As the Asia Cup 2023 draws nearer, the six of the best teams from the continent are getting ready to face each other in a three-week spectacle, starting on August 30. The opening match of the tournament will be played between Pakistan and Nepal at the Multan Cricket Stadium, Multan, while the grand finale will go down at the R Premadasa Stadium, Colombo, on September 17.
Also Read: Asia Cup: Three highest partnerships in tournament’s history
In the history of the Asia Cup, the players have managed to create a lot of epic moments on the field in their respective skills. When we talk about the bowlers, some of the biggest names, including the likes of Wasim Akram, Saqlain Mushtaq, Lasith Malinga, Muttiah Muralitharan, Venkatesh Prasad, Ashish Nehra, Shakib Al Hasan, among others, have delivered memorable spells through the 40-year history of the tournament.
With that, SportsTiger looks at five of the best bowling performances in the history of the Asia Cup.
Virender Seh wag (IND) 4/6 against Bangladesh 2010
One of the most surprising names on the best bowling performance list for the Asia Cup is Virender Sehwag. As one of the most underrated off spinners during his cricketing days, he managed to pick up wickets at vital times to help Team India win matches with the ball too.
During the Asia Cup 2010 match at Dambulla, Virender Sehwag picked up the key wicket of Mushfiqur Rahim to derail the batting effort of Bangladesh. Then, he went on to run through the tailenders to help India restrict the opposition to 167 before the batters chased down the target with a six-wicket margin in 30.2 overs.
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Saqlain Mushtaq (PAK) 5/38 against Bangladesh in 1997
One of the greatest off-spin bowlers of all time, Saqlain Mushtaq had an illustrious career for Pakistan in Tests and ODIs, picking up 208 and 288 wickets respectively, in these two formats. He reserved some of his best for Bangladesh during the Asia Cup 1997 in Colombo (RPS), picking up a five-fer to help his team register a comfortable win of 109 runs.
While defending the big total of 319, Saqlain Mushtaq opened his wickets tally after getting rid of Aminul Islam. Then, he picked up the massive scalps of Athar Ali Khan for 91 and Akram Khan for 59, before taking two more wickets to allow Pakistan to bundle out Bangladesh for 210.
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Muttiah Muralitharan (SL) 5/31 against Bangladesh in 2008
Muttiah Muralitharan, widely regarded as the best off-spinner in the history of cricket, put his stamp of authority on the Asia Cup in 2008 with a five-star performance. During the clash against Bangladesh in Karachi, Sri Lanka posted a massive score of 332/8, thanks to the centuries from Sanath Jayasuriya and Kumar Sangakkara at the top of the order.
It allowed the champion off-spinner to make a mockery out of the opposition batters, starting with Mushfiqur Rahim. Then, Muttiah Muralitharan got the important wicket of Raqibul Hasan for 52, which led to a massive collapse for Bangladesh, who got bundled out for 174, to hand a massive 158-run victory to Sri Lanka.
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Arshad Ayub (IND) 5/17 against Pakistan in 1988
The best bowling figures in the history of the Asia Cup for Team India came in the 1988 edition of the tournament. At Dhaka, Arshad Ayub, the off-spinner, picked up a five-wicket haul for 17 runs against the arch-rivals Pakistan, to help skittle them out for just 142 runs.
During the Pakistan innings, when the openers started well in the initial stages, Arshad Ayub broke through for India with Ramiz Raja’s wicket. Then, he ran through the middle to the lower order of the opposition, giving the Indian batters the opportunity to chase down a modest target, which they managed to do with a four-wicket margin.
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Ajantha Mendis (SL) 6/19 against India in 2008
Ajantha Mendis announced his arrival to international cricket in style, during the Asia Cup final 2008 at Karachi. The mystery spinner from Sri Lanka, bamboozled the formidable Indian batting lineup, picking up figures of 6/19 to help his team win the coveted trophy one more time.
In defence of the 273 total, Ajantha Mendis was introduced inside the powerplay overs, prizing out Virender Sehwag, who was on 60 in just 36 balls with 12 fours at that time. He went on to unleash fury on the rest of the Indian batting lineup, scalping for Suresh Raina, Yuvraj Singh, Rohit Sharma, Irfan Pathan, and RP Singh, to ensure that India was bowled out for 173 inside 40 overs.
