Hosted by the UAE, this year’s Asia Cup follows the T20 format
The first half of 2025 witnessed action in the Champions Trophy and World Test Championship
final. However, the second half of 2025 has nothing much to offer when it comes to ICC tournaments. Therefore, the cricket fraternity’s eyes are on the Asia Cup hosted by the Asian Cricket Council, which allows eight teams from Asia to go against each other. And out of these eight teams, India is the biggest, followed by the likes of Sri Lanka, Afghanistan, and PAK.
This year, the tournament will be played in the T20 format and not the ODI format. But how is this information relevant, given that tournaments are known to stick to a single format? For the uninitiated, the Asia Cup alternates between two formats: ODI and T20. In this article, we outline the reasons behind this format switch.
ODI or T20?
This year, the Asia Cup is all about playing T20 games. However, the tournament started as an ODI tournament in 1983. The tournament has always been played biennially, except for a few occasions when it was cancelled, and the period of interval increased.
(Credit- The Economic Times)
In 2015, the International Cricket Council downsized the Asian Cricket Council and announced that the tournament would be played on a rotational basis between ODI and T20.
How are the formats rotated?
The formats of the tournament are rotated based on the upcoming ICC tournament. For example, the T20 World Cup is scheduled to be played in 2026. Therefore, this year’s Asia Cup is being played in the T20 format. If the ODI World Cup were to be played in 2026, this year’s Asia Cup would’ve followed the ODI format. In 2016, the T20 format was followed for the first time in the history of the Asia Cup.
(Credit- The Mint)
In 2018, the format reverted to ODI, followed by another T20 in 2022. Given that the pandemic had thwarted the tournament, the Asia Cup was played in two consecutive years, with another ODI format used in 2023, which India won. In 2025, India is the defending champion of the tournament.
Advantage for Asian teams
To some extent, the Asia Cup serves as a valuable platform for Asian teams. After all, it gives them a chance to check their strengths and weaknesses against Asian countries before jumping into the real deal, i.e., the T20 World Cup or ODI World Cup.
Most winners & runner-up
India leads the winners’ table with eight combined (ODI & T20) trophies won since 1984. Following India is Sri Lanka with six combined trophies, whereas PAK has only won two. Bangladesh has finished as the runner-up on three different occasions but has never lifted the trophy.
(Credit- Cricket Times)
With Afghanistan improving in the T20 segment, India will have to be cautious against them and not take them lightly if the men in blue wish to defend their title.
On September 10, the Asia Cup commences with India facing the host, the United Arab Emirates.
