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| Sunday, 11 July 2004 |
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Hong Kong, UAE in fold: Pakistan, India for 8th Asia Cup after 4 years by Ranjan Anandappa
The fervour generated by the renewal of India - Pakistan cricket recently after a long hiatus on Pakistani soil will no doubt be the hype when Asia's cricketing showpiece - the Asia Cup is revived this July in Sri Lanka. For the traditional significance of India and Pakistan at cricket will be the big draw under Sri Lankan skies after a break of 4 years which will bring together six countries, The other participants are hosts Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Hong Kong and the United Arab Emirates. The last two are the newest entrants. It will be the 8th Asia Cup, and the curtain raiser will be on July 16 when India takes on minnows UAE at Dambulla in a comparatively one sided match, while Bangladesh meets HongKong at the SSC grounds. The latter match will be a yardstick of evaluation of Bangladesh's cricket since the latest entrants to the ICC Test fold came under the wing of former Sri Lankan born Australian coach Davenell Whatmore.
Bangladesh has notably shown some sort of improvement in fits and starts against big opposition, and the Asia Cup will be the ideal testing ground to showcase its cricket. Cricket in Asia suffered a huge setback when India and Pakistan kept away when relationships between the two neighbouring countries strained over their long lasting Kashmir border dispute. However, cricket was restored after bilateral talks between the cricket administrators of the two countries with blessings at government level. The teams have been divided into two groups. Group 'A' draws Pakistan, Bangladesh and Hong Kong and in group 'B' hosts Sri Lanka, India and UAE .The matches will be played in two phases. The first will be at Dambulla and at the SSC, and in the second phase one match will be played at the SSC and the rest at the R. Premadasa Stadium, Khettarama. The first Asia Cup Championship was staged in Sharjah, UAE in 1984 featuring India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh. Thereafter it was hosted by Sri Lanka in 1986 with India not participating. Sri Lanaka beat Pakistan by 5 wickets in the final. Duleep Mendis led Sri Lanka, and Imran Khan Pakistan.
Pakistan are the defending champions having beaten Sri Lanka by 39 runs in the final at Dhaka, Bangladesh in 2000. India has won the Asia Cup on four occasions while Sri Lanka has won it twice, once under Duleep Mendis (1986) and under Arjuna Ranatunga in 1997 where he struck an unbeaten 131 which still stands as the highest individual score in an Asia Cup Championship. Pakistan has surprisingly won it only once. The teams: Sri Lanka- Marvan Atapattu (Captain), Mahela Jayawardena, Sanath Jayasuriya, Kumar Sangakkara, T. M. Dilshan, Russel Arnold, Saman Jayantha, Thilina Kandamby, Chaminda Vaas, Nuwan Zoysa, Dilhara Fernando, Nuwan Kulasekera, Ferveez Maharoof, Muttiah Muralitharan, Upul Chandana, Rangana Herath, Romesh Kaluwitharana, Lasith Malinga. India-Sourav Gangully (Captain),Rahul Darvid, V.V.S.Laxman, Zaheer Khan, Ramesh Powar, Lakshmipathy Balaji, Irfan Pathan, Sachin Tendulkar, Virender Shewag, Yuvraj Singh, Parthiv Patel, Ashish Nehra, Mohammad Kaif, Anil Kumble, Harbhajan Singh. Bangladesh - Habibul Bashar (Captain), Rajin Saleh, Hannan Sarker, Shahriar Hossain, Mohammed Ashraful, Alok Kapali, Mushfiqur Rahman, Khaled Mahmud, Khaled Mashud, Mohammad Rafique, Manjural Islam, Faisal Hossain, Tapash Baisya, Tareq Aziz, Javed Omar. HongKong -Rahul Sharma (Captain), Manoj Cheruparambil, Illyas Gul, Tim Smart, Tabarak Dar, Alex French, Najeeb Amar, Roy Lamsan, Nasir Hameed, Afzaal Haider, Sher Lama, Khalid Khan,Nadeem Ahamed, Greame Jardin.
United Arab Emirates- Khurram Khan (Captain), Arshad Ali, Abdul Rehman, Ali Asad Abbas, Asghar Ali Khan, Asim Saeed, Fahad Usman, Mohamed Tauqir, Muhammad Faward, Naemuddin, Ram Veera Rai, Rizwan Ahmed, Sameer Zia, Syed Maqsood Ahmed. Pakistan -Inzaman-ul-Haq (Captain), Youusuf Yohana, Imran Farhat, Yasir Hameed, Imran Nazir, Younis Khan, Shoib Malik, Abdul Razzaq, Moin Khan, Mohammed Sami, Shoib Akthar, Shakir Ahmed, Danish Kaneria, Rana Naveedul Hassan. Phase one- Friday (16 July) Bangladesh Vs HongKong at SSC, India vs United Arab Emirates at Dambulla. Saturday (July 17). Pakistan vs Bangladesh at SSC, Sri Lanka vs UAE at Dambulla. Sunday July 18. Pakistan vs HongKong at SSC, Sri Lanka vs India at Dambulla. Phase two- begins on July 21, and final will be on August at the R. Premadasa stadium, Khettarama. |
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