India and Pakistan have never met in an Asia Cup final
Sri Lanka have reached the final 13 times in 16 editions and in all of those finals they have either faced India or Pakistan
India are the most successful team in the competition with 8 titles
India and Pakistan are the two most dominant cricketing powers in Asia. Long before Sri Lanka emerged as a competitor in the sub-continent, the two arch-rivals had virtually no competition when it came to supremacy in the continent. While in recent times, India has left Pakistan far behind in this rivalry, the two sides could both defeat each other on any given day. Despite this, there has never been an Asia Cup where this two teams have clashed.
In recent years, Asian Cricket Council have tried their best to have three India vs Pakistan games in the Asia Cup including in the final. And yet, they have failed.
Here we take a look at why India vs Pakistan has never happened in the Asia Cup final before.
India vs Pakistan final at Asia Cup?
The first Asia Cup took place in 1984 with India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka featuring in it. It was played in round-robin format with no final. India did not participate in the second edition in 1986 due to security issues in Sri Lanka.
In 1988, India and Sri Lanka reached the final while in 1990-91 edition Pakistan pulled out of the tournament. In every subsequent edition, it was either Sri Lanka vs Pakistan or Sri Lanka vs India in the final.
Sri Lanka so frequently stopped the India vs Pakistan final that there was no Asia Cup summit clash without the island nation till 2012.
In 2012, Bangladesh made it to the final for the first time but were beaten by Pakistan. They made the final in 2016 and 2018 as well but were beaten by India on those occasions.
Those three remain the only times when Sri Lanka have not made it to the final of an Asia Cup.
All Asia Cup finals ever
1984 ODI: India beat Sri Lanka by 54 runs
1986 ODI: Sri Lanka beat Pakistan by 5 wickets
1988 ODI: India beat Sri Lanka by 6 wickets
1990–91 ODI: India beat Sri Lanka by 7 wickets
1995 ODI: India beat Sri Lanka by 8 wickets
1997 ODI: Sri Lanka beat India by 8 wickets
2000 ODI: Pakistan beat Sri Lanka by 5 wickets
2004 ODI: Sri Lanka beat India by 25 runs
2008 ODI: Sri Lanka beat India by 100 runs
2010 ODI: India beat Sri Lanka by 81 runs
2012 ODI: Pakistan beat Bangladesh by 2 runs
2014 ODI: Sri Lanka beat Pakistan by 5 wickets
2016 T20I: India beat Bangladesh by 8 wickets
2018 ODI: India beat Bangladesh by 3 wickets
2022 T20I: Sri Lanka beat Pakistan by 23 runs
2023 ODI: India beat Sri Lanka by 10 wickets
India have won the tournament eight times while Sri Lanka have five titles.
