Top 5 heavy defeats for India in Asia Cup

Though India always started as the favourites to win the Asia Cup, they too faced a lot of troubles during their bad days at the office. They suffered losses against their Asian friends in which few of them have been lost with pretty big margins.

Here we figured out top 5 heavy defeats for India in Asia Cup:

5. Lost to Sri Lanka with 79 balls to spare in 1997 finals:

It was the time when Sachin Tendulkar was leading India and Sri Lanka were enjoying their golden phase under Arjun Ranatunga’s captaincy. The final of the tournament ended as a pretty one-sided affair.

Initially, India won the toss and asked the Lankans to roll their arms. The decision turned out to be a negative one as Navjot Singh Siddhu and Rahul Dravid were out for the cheap scores. However, Ganguly and Sachin tried to steady the ship.

But, the then spinner Dharmasena sent Ganguly back to the hut leaving the onus on Sachin and Mohammed Azharuddin. Both managed to pull things back into the Indian side. But, the lack of hitting in slog overs turned the things in Sri Lanka’s way as India finished with 239 on the board.

In reply to the chase, Sanath Jayasuriya, Marvan Atapattu and Arjun Ranatunga had the chase for a dinner meal. They completed the Chase in just 36.5 overs leaving as many as 79 balls to spare.

4. Thrashed by Pakistan by 59 runs at Colombo 2004:

It was way back in 2004 when Inzamam-ul-Haq was leading the Pakistan team and Sourav Ganguly was the skipper of the Indian team. The emotions between both the teams were quite high during the tourney.

Once again, Shoaib Malik was the chief run scorer for Pakistan against India. He always shares a nice moment on the field whenever he faces Indian team. Malik smashed a brilliant 143 to push Pakistan to 300 on the board.

In reply to the chase, Sachin Tendulkar was the only batsman who looked like dealing the Pakistan pacers efficiently. Apart from him, none of the batsmen tried to chase the tally. In fact, they fell like a pack of cards.

It was again Shoaib Malik with the ball who took the prized scalps of Sachin Tendulkar and then the in-form Yuvraj Singh. However, it was the day all written for Shoaib Malik who ended up receiving the man of the match.

3. Lost to Sri Lanka by 71 runs at Dhaka in 2000:

It was a day when once again the brilliance of Sachin Tendulkar came in a losing cause. Winning the toss, Sri Lanka elected to bat first. Right from the word go, Islanders’ skipper, Sanath Jayasuriya wielded his blazing willow.

He scored a stunning 105 which was well backed up by some serious hitting in the middle-order. They finished with a decent tally of 276 on the board asking Indians to bat on deteriorating wicket.

In reply to the chase, it was again a one-man effort from India. The right-handed Sachin Tendulkar went after Lankan bowlers to smash a blistering 93.

However, none of the batsmen crossed 25-run mark thus leaving India in a soup. Weeraratne was the pick of the bowlers with 3 wickets while Chaminda Vass and Mutthaiah Muralitharan bowled economically.

2. Beaten by 97 runs at the hands of arch-rivals at Sharjah in 1995:

That was one of the horrible games for India during those times in Asia Cup. It was under the captaincy of Mohammed Azharuddin while Pakistan is being led by Moin Khan. Playing at home, Pakistan won the toss and chose to bat first.

Amir Sohail and Saeed Anwar started the things cautiously by knocking run-a-ball. However, Inzamam-ul-Haq has other ideas in his mind who smacked a brilliant 88 on the pure bowling advantage wicket.

The knock by the newbie Inzamam has been backed by Wasim Akram’s fifty in the lower order to push Pakistan to a solid 266 on the board. In reply to the chase, Pakistan’s Aaqib Javed was all over India with his fantastic bowling display.

Apart from Navjot Singh Sidhu and Sanjay Manjrekar’s fifty, none of the Indian batsmen crossed the 20-run mark. Javed finished with 5-wicket haul while part-time Amir Sohail picked a couple in his 10-ball spell.

1. Lost to Sri Lanka by 100 runs in 2008 Asia Cup final at Karachi:

It was the time when Ajanta Mendis was ruling the world cricket with his exceptional mystery. Meanwhile, the dominance by Sanath Jayasuriya also continued on India as well.

He smashed a brutal 125 to his name and the fine fifty by Tillakaratne Dilshan down the order guided Lankans to 273 on the board. In reply to the chase, it was all Ajanta Mendis who rolled out Indian batting lineup.

Though Virender Sehwag smashed a brutal 60 off 36 balls, none of the Indian batsmen was able to pick Ajantha Mendis thus bagging an embarrassing loss in the finals of the Asia Cup by a margin of 100 runs.

The scintillating bowling display by Ajanta Mendis saw him picking 6 wickets for 13 runs with a maiden in his 8 overs. Vass, Kulasekara and Muralitharan are the other bowlers to bag wickets in their account.