On this day in 1984: India lift the inaugural Asia Cup trophy

Exactly on this day in 1984, India won the first edition of the Asia Cup by beating arch-rivals Pakistan. It was a 54-run victory at the Sharjah Cricket Stadium, one year after India won the country’s first-ever World Cup in England.

How many teams participated?

The first edition of the Asia Cup saw only three teams participating in it. Apart from India and Pakistan, Sri Lanka had featured in the continental championship. Team India won the marquee event after topping the table with eight points. Both teams were without some of their key players for the final game. While India were without Kapil Dev, Pakistan missed the services of Imran Khan.

Pakistan needed a big win but their hopes were dashed by the Indians. The Sunil Gavaskar-led side scored 188/4 in 46 overs. Surinder Khanna rose to the challenge and top-scored with 56. His knock came off 72 balls and was studded with 3 fours and a couple of sixes. Sandeep Patil (43) and Gavaskar (36*) also played crucial knocks to power India to a competitive total.

For Pakistan, Sarfraz Nawaz, Shahid Mahboob and Mudassar Nazar picked one wicket each.

Binny, Shastri deliver with the ball

India and Sri Lanka had won one match each, which meant that not only did Pakistan need to win, but they had to score their runs quickly to register a big win. However, they failed to get the task done with the bat. India came up with a fine bowling display to bowl Pakistan out for just 134 under 40 overs. Roger Binny and Ravi Shastri starred with the ball, picking up three wickets each.

So far, 14 editions of Asia Cup have been played and India have been the most successful team with 7 titles to their name. Sri Lanka are the second most successful side with 5 titles, while Pakistan have won the title twice. In the latest edition in 2018, India beat Bangladesh in the final at the UAE to win the competition.