Called the Rothmans Asia Cup in 1984, it featured India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka battling for supremacy.  The Indians, fresh from their World Cup victory and victory in the Benson and Hedges Cup in Australia were favorites, though the captaincy had shifted from Kapil Dev to Sunil Gavaskar. India duly won the Cup, making it three wins in three international one day tournaments, a huge turn around from a side that was eliminated in the league stages of the 1979 World Cup. Over the years India has won the cup four times, while current champions Sri Lanka have also won the championship four times.  The only other team to win the Cup is Pakistan who won it in 2000. 

The Asia Cup was supposed to be held every two years and was supposed to foster unity and understanding among the cricketing nations of Asia.  That it has not really succeeded in either goal, is more due to the lack of importance given to the tournament, especially by the Asian boards, and the BCCI in particular. This neglect is then mirrored by the media in these countries, again especially India, and to a large extent the fans too.  Huge advertising campaigns are launched around the ICC sponsored World Cup, and Champions Trophy.  Books sponsored by corporate entities such as Wills (the cigarette manufacturers) recount the history of the World Cup, and entire issues of magazines such as SportStar or Cricinfo are published for the World Cup.  Sadly very little such activity is seen around the Asia Cup. 

The 2010 edition of the Asia Cup held in Sri Lanka did away with the minnows, limiting the tournament to only the four Test nations of Asia.  This was supposed to cut down on mismatches and make the tournament more competitive, but the poor performance of Bangladesh who were outclassed in all three of their matches, meant that in reality even this shortened version of the cup had a couple of “dead rubber” games.  In hindsight it would have been much more interesting to have included a couple of associates such as Afghanistan and UAE or Hong Kong.  For the “minnows” it would have been a rare chance to play with the big boys.  In fact, one feels that Afghanistan, which has made incredible strides in cricket recently would have been more competitive than a lackluster Bangladesh.   

The final will see India take on Sri Lanka who must be considered favorites to lift the cup for the third time in a row, especially as they are playing at home.  However, India who have had a poor record of late in multi-team ODI tournaments would be very eager to win this venerable, if somewhat under-appreciated, Trophy for a record fifth time.  It would be a very nice feather in the cap for Captain Mahi and his boys and a nice way to warm-up for the full World Cup which will be held just a few months from now.

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