Asia Cup 2010:

Beyond sports....

Conceived to promote goodwill among the cricket playing nations in the region, the tournament has become a popular event today.

The picturesque Rangiri Dambulla International Cricket Stadium will be the venue for the 10th Asia Cup limited overs cricket championship which will be held from June 15 to 25. All matches will be day-night ones.

Sri Lanka who will be hosting the tournament for the fourth time, has been engaged in all the previous finals. Do you know that India and Sri Lanka have won the Asia Cup on four occasions while Pakistan has won only once, in year 2000?

Sri Lanka beat the defending champions India with Ajantha Mendis' mysterious spin bowling ( 6 for 13). This helped them to beat India by 100 runs in the final held at Karachi, Pakistan two years ago. Now they'll face the tournament as the defending champions.

The four teams participating in this year's tournament are (host) Sri Lanka,India, Pakistan and Bangladesh. They will meet each other on a league basis and the two top teams will meet in the final on June 24. The winners will receive the prize money of 200,000 US dollars and the funds will be donated for a worthy cause to support and develop cricket in the Asian region.

" The Asia Cup is not about just a tournament to test the best team in the region.This tournament helps the emerging countries with lot of funding for the improvement of the game, teams, and infrastructure.This is something beyond what we imagined."said Syed Ashraful Haq, the Chief Executive of the Asian Cricket Council at a meeting held in Sri Lanka with regard to the tournament recently.

The idea of conducting a tournament of this nature was conceived in 1983 to promote goodwill among the cricket playing nations in the region.

This tournament generates a lot of interest as arch rivals India and Pakistan will meet each other in a terrific battle of supremacy. In fact, the India-Pakistan encounter, let it be cricket or any other sport, creates a lot of passion among the spectators of both countries who will no doubt crossover to Sri Lanka to witness this spectacle as they have done on previous occasions.

History of the tournament:

1984 In Sharjah UAE.

India beat Pakistan.

1986 In Sri Lanka at SSC grounds.

Sri Lanka beat Pakistan by 5 wickets.

1988 At the Banghabandu Stadium, Dhaka, Bangladesh.

India beat Sri Lanka by 6 wickets.

1990/91 - At Eden Gardens, Calcutta, India.

India beat Sri Lanka by 7 wickets.

Pakistan did not take part in the tournament due to strained political relations

with India.

1993 - Pakistan

- not held.

1995 - In Sharjah,

UAE.

India beat Sri Lanka

by 8 wickets.

1997 In Sri Lanka at the R. Premadasa Stadium.

Sri Lanka beat India by 8 wickets to prevent India scoring a hatrick of wins.

2000 - At the Banghabandu Stadium, Bangladesh.

Pakistan beat Sri Lanka by 39 runs.

2004 - In Sri Lanka at the R. Premadasa Stadium.

Sri Lanka beat India by 25 runs.

2008 - In Pakistan at the National Stadium, Karachi.

Sri Lanka beat India by 100 runs.

The Itinerary.

June 15. Sri Lanka Vs Pakistan.

June 16 .India Vs Bangladesh,

June 17. Reserve day.

June 18. Sri Lanka Vs Bangladesh.

June 19. India Vs Pakistan.

June 20. Reserve day.

June 21. Pakistan Vs Bangladesh.

June 22. India Vs.Sri Lanka.

June 23. Reserve day.

June 24. Final.

June 25. Reserve day.

Ranjan Anandappa

The venue at Dambulla

The venue at Dambulla The Asia Cup Tournament will take place at the picturesque location, the Rangiri Dambulla International Crickest Stadium. It is situated on a 60 acre land close to Dambulla an agricultural town famous for its UNESCO protected Rock Cave Temple which dates back to 85 B.C. In fact, the 60 acre land on which the stadium was built on is leased from the Rangiri Dambulla Temple. The newest cricket venue in Sri Lanka,built in 2000 with a seating capacity of 16800 (approx) and complete with floodlights (installed in 2003)to play day-night mathces, the stadium is a stunning location, looking out over the Dambulla Tank (reservoir) and the Dambulla Rock.Construction which was funded by the Board of Control for Cricket in Sri Lanka (BCCSL) took only 167 days.The inaugural One Day International (ODI) match was played between Sri Lanka and England in March 2001.However no matches were held here for a long spell after that until May 2003,where all seven matches of the tournament were held because of monsoon rains in the south.. The two ends of the stadium are named Press Box End, Scoreboard End.The pitch is bowler friendly

Who will win the trophy?

In the nine matches played so far in the series ,nine trophies have been presented by various sponsors.

This time too,there will be no exception. The question is who will take the silverware this time in the quadrangular series?

The trophy won by the Sri Lankan team at the 2008 Asia Cup tournament is pictured here.