Let's relive the five best innings by Indian batsmen in the Asia Cup tournament.
The 14th edition of Asia Cup cricket will commence in the UAE from September 15 and the matches will be played at the Sheikh Zayed Stadium in Abu Dhabi and the Dubai International Cricket Stadium in Dubai.
This year’s Asia Cup tournament will revert back to the 50-over format after the 2016 edition was played as a T20 tournament. This year’s tournament will also feature Afghanistan as a full member team after it gained Test status from ICC. The winners of the ongoing Asia Cup qualifiers will also participate in the tournament.
The tournament has seen some brilliant batting displays from Indian batsmen. The highest individual score in the tournament history is 183 and the record is held by India’s Virat Kohli, who wrote his name in golden letters with that dominating innings.
However, there have been some other brilliant displays of batting from other Indian batsmen as well and Team COC has picked five such brilliant hundreds from the bats of Indian batsmen in Asia Cup history.
Here are the 5 best hundreds by Indian batsmen in Asia Cup tournament
135* - SOURAV GANGULY
vs. Bangladesh, Dhaka, 2000
This match between India and Bangladesh was the second match of the Asia Cup 2000 held in Bangladesh. Host captain Aminul Islam won the toss and elected to bat first and thanks to Habibul Bashar’s 57 and Akram Khan’s 64, put up 249/6 in 50 overs.
It was a competitive total if Bangladesh would have managed to get some wickets at the start; something that didn’t happen.
Sachin Tendulkar went after their bowling and scored 36 in just 25 balls with 4 boundaries and 2 sixes and added 85 runs in 11.1 overs with his fellow opener Sourav Ganguly.
After his dismissal at the hands of Mushfiqur Rahman, Indian captain Sourav Ganguly took over and continued thrashing the Bangladeshi bowlers to all corners of the Bangabandhu Stadium in Dhaka. He brought up his 50 in 52 balls and century in 104 balls with 4 fours and 5 sixes.
Debutant Hemang Badani kept him company with a cozy 35 and the last rites were performed in presence of Mohammad Azharuddin, who remained unbeaten on 35. Ganguly scored 135* in 124 balls with 6 fours and 7 massive sixes and was awarded the Man of the match award.
Here is the video of the innings:
119 – VIRENDER SEHWAG
vs. Pakistan, Karachi, 2008
The 2008 Asia Cup was held in Pakistan and it saw a big clash in India taking on hosts Pakistan in the 5th match of the tournament in Karachi.
Pakistani captain Shoaib Malik won the toss and chose to bat first in the National Stadium, Karachi. Malik also led from the front, scoring 125 in 119 balls and with Younis Khan’s 59, Pakistan managed to put up 299/4 on the board.
With Sachin Tendulkar out of the tournament, the opening responsibility fell on the shoulders of Gautam Gambhir and Virender Sehwag. Iftikhar Anjum had Gambhir caught by Misbah for 9, but Virender Sehwag continued in his dominating fashion.
Along with Suresh Raina, who thumped 84 runs in 69 balls with 10 fours and 3 sixes, Sehwag added 198 runs for the second wicket, to put India in the driver’s seat.
Sehwag plundered each and every Pakistani bowler and completed his 50 off 46 balls and went on to score a brilliant hundred in just 80 balls. India chased down the total easily in 42.1 overs with Sehwag making 119 in 95 balls with 12 fours and 5 sixes, before being dismissed.
His innings was a terrific one, given that India was playing Pakistan in their own backyard.
Here is the video of the innings:
112* - SACHIN TENDULKAR
vs. Sri Lanka, Sharjah, 1995
Sri Lanka chose to bat first, but with Venkatesh Prasad’s 3/37 and Javagal Srinath’s two wickets hurting them, managed to conjure up 202/9 in 50 overs. Hashan Tillakaratne top-scored with 48, as Ranatunga was yet to come up with the devastating Jayasuriya-Kaluwitharana opening combination.
India had a relatively easy score to chase and openers Tendulkar and Manoj Prabhakar went on to give a good start to the team. Prabhakar played a watchful inning of 60 from 79 balls with 7 fours, while Tendulkar erupted on Sri Lankan bowlers with a flurry of boundaries.
Tendulkar was severe of the opposition’s best fast bowler in Chaminda Vaas, as he went for 67 runs in 9 overs, while Ramanayake went for 38 in his 4.1 overs. Tendulkar remained unbeaten on 112 off 107 balls with 15 fours and 1 six to take India home for the loss of just two wickets and 17 overs to spare.
Here is the video of the innings:
116* - SURESH RAINA
vs. Bangladesh, Karachi, 2008
The 7th match of the 2008 Asia Cup saw India and Bangladesh clash in Karachi. Bangladesh captain Mohammad Ashraful won the toss and chose to bat first.
Tamim Iqbal scored 55 and despite Manpreet Gony and Pragyan Ojha picking 2 wickets each in the middle overs, Alok Kapali took Bangladesh to a more than respectable total of 283/6 with a brilliant 115 in 96 balls with 10 fours and 5 sixes.
Chasing down 283 a decade ago was a tough ask and when India lost opener Robin Uthappa (2) and Rohit Sharma (22) early, it depended on Gautam Gambhir and Suresh Raina to take them to safety and they did their jobs in style.
Gambhir scored a brilliant 90 in 84 balls with 10 fours and 1 six and was unlucky not to get his hundred. He added a valuable 139 runs with the eventual Man of the match Suresh Raina to take India home.
Raina, on the other hand, dominated the Bangladeshi bowlers, especially their spinners Mahmudullah and Alok Kapali, while Shahadat Hossain too went for runs, as Raina wrestled the initiative from opposition bowlers in a tough looking chase.
Raina ended up unbeaten on 116 off 107 balls with 11 fours and 3 sixes and took India to a win by 7 wickets and almost 7 overs to spare in the end.
Here is the highlight video of the innings:
183- VIRAT KOHLI
vs. Pakistan, Dhaka, 2012
Misbah, the Pakistani skipper won the toss and chose to bat first on a belter of a track. Pakistani openers Nasir Jamshed and Mohammad Hafeez made merry on the beautiful pitch by scoring hundreds each. Jamshed made 112 in 104 balls and Hafeez scored 105 in 113 balls and the duo added 224 runs for the first wicket in 36 overs. This gave Pakistan a platform to launch for a big score and Younis Khan made 52 in just 34 balls to take his team to a mountain like 329/6 in 50 overs.
India needed someone to come good in this chase, and when Gautam Gambhir was dismissed for the second ball of the innings, the task became tougher. The little master Sachin Tendulkar was there, and he was joined by Virat Kohli, who had earlier made his name for his brutal 133* against Sri Lanka in the VB series in Australia, where he helped India chase down 300 plus runs in 30 odd overs in a do or die match.
Kohli showed glimpses of that brutality on Pakistani bowlers as he began his methodical chase with the master guiding him. Tendulkar was dismissed for 52 runs after adding 133 runs with Kohli and Rohit Sharma joined him in the middle.
Kohli then took the initiative and hit every Pakistani bowler to all parts of the ground. Wahab Riaz came for some special punishment, as he went for 50 runs in his 4 overs and never bowled again in the innings. Kohli scored his 100 off 97 balls and 150 off 131 balls as he guided India to a famous win.
He was finally dismissed for 183 off 148 balls with 22 fours and 1 six, leaving India at 318, with 12 runs to win. Rohit supported him with a brilliant 62 himself and added 172 runs for the 3rd wicket.
Kohli celebrated his hundred with zeal and enthusiasm and India reached the target with 13 balls to spare and won the match by 6 wickets chasing 329 to win. This happened all thanks to the brilliance and aggression of Virat Kohli, who won the Man of the match award for his 183.
183 remains Virat Kohli’s highest individual score in ODIs and the highest score by a batsman in Asia Cup history.
Here is the video of the innings: