Asia Cup 2010 Statistics: The Best in Batting Bowling and Fielding Pakistan India and Sri Lanka
The Asia Cup cricket tournament is supposed to be played after every 2 years, but the state of affairs amongst the 4 participating countries ensures that it is only held when there is a common window for the test nations of Asia. The Asian Cricket Council decided to have the 2010 event held in Sri Lanka, without bearing in mind that the world will be gripped in FIFA Fever, and all participants agreed.
The tournament was played between 15th and 24th June in Dambulla, Sri Lanka, and saw all teams play each other with a desire to win. The highest score of the tournament by any team was 385 for the loss of 7 wickets which is also the most by Pakistan in one dayers. The lowest score by any team in the event was by 167 by Bangladesh against eventual winners India in their league match.
Pakistan skipper Shahid Afridi was the most successful batsman of the event, with 265 runs at an astronomical average of 88.33 runs per innings in 3 matches. He also scored 2 centuries, the most in this edition; one against Sri Lanka and another against Bangladesh. He also hit 12 sixes in his 3 outings, smashing the world record of most sixes in an ODI career which was held by Sanath Jayasuriya before Afridi. Gautam Gambhir of India was the only other batsman to score more than 200 in the series, but he played 4 matches, compared to Afridi’s 3, and he hit just one six during his 4 outings.
Although the Bangladeshis failed to win a single match, their batsmen Imrul Kayes & Junaid Siddique managed to score 160 runs for the 2nd wicket against Pakistan, which proved to be the highest partnership of the event, for any wicket. Umar Akmal and Shahid Afridi's 137 runs fifth wicket stand came second, while Upul Tharanga and Tillakaratne Dilshan's 111 for the first wicket against Bangladesh and Mahela Jayawardene & Kumar Sangakkara's 104 against India came third and fourth respectively.
The most successful bowler of the event was Sri Lanka’s Lasith Malinga, who took 9 wickets in 3 matches, including a 5 wicket haul in the opening match against Pakistan. Yet it was Ashish Nehra with 6 wickets in 3 matches whose bowling helped his side win the tournament. His four wickets for 40 runs in the final against Sri Lanka was the main difference between the two sides. Zaheer Khan and Praveen Kumar, both from India, also took 6 wickets as the Indian pacers dominated the event with accuracy and swing.
Bangladesh’s Shakib Al Hasan and Pakistan’s Umar Akmal were the most successful fielders of the Asia Cup 2010 with 3 catches, while the Indian and Sri Lankan captains, Mahendra Singh Dhoni and Kumar Sangakkara, were the wicket keepers with highest number of dismissals: 11 in 4 matches. While Dhoni caught 10 batsmen and stumped 1, Sangakkara stumped 2 and caught 9 to emerge as the best amongst the rest.
The largest victory in terms of runs was acquired by Pakistan, who won their last league match against Bangladesh by 139 runs, while Sri Lanka's 7 wicket win against India in their final league match was the largest in terms of wickets.
The recently concluded Asia Cup was the 10th such event but it seems that it was held at a time when people were busy watching football matches and cheering for teams that emerged from anywhere but the Indian subcontinent. If the tournament is to be made a success, the organisers must agree on a date where all teams will be free for participation, as well as show interest in building a sense of history around the tournament. Unless steps are taken in the right direction, the only direction the Asia Cup will move to will be downward, instead of Up, Up & Away!
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