Asia Cup 2022 Will Run From Aug 27 to 11 Sep – See Our Predictions
The Asia Cup will be back in action from 27 Aug to 11 Sep, and six teams will look to battle it out and establish themselves as the number one team in ODI cricket in the Asian continent. The Asia Cup usually takes place every two years, but it’s been four years since the tournament’s last edition.
India won the 2018 Asia Cup but could not defend its championship in 2020 as the tournament was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. India will be joined by arch-rivals Pakistan, neighbours Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Afghanistan and a sixth team that will be determined based on a playoff between Hong Kong, United Arab Emirates, Singapore and Kuwait. The playoffs to determine the 6th contender in the 2022 Asia Cup will occur from Aug 20 to 24 in Oman.
UAE To Host 2022 Asia Cup
Sri Lanka was initially selected to host the 2022 Asia Cup, but the Asian Cricket Council (ACC) decided to move the tournament out of the troubled country. Sri Lanka as a nation is going through a national crisis, and the ACC decided that it was in the best interests of the tournament and players to shift the location.
The United Arab Emirates (UAE) will benefit from Sri Lanka’s troubles as the UAE will host the 2022 Asia Cup. The conditions in the UAE are expected to be hot and humid but shouldn’t be a huge issue for Asian players who are used to playing cricket in similar conditions. Due to the conditions, we expect pitches that will favour the spinners more than the fast bowlers, especially as the tournament progresses.
2022 Asia Cup – Betting Odds
Here are the betting odds for the six teams participating in the 2022 Asia Cup at the time of this writing.
| Country | Betting Odds |
| India | 4.0 |
| Pakistan | 5.5 |
| Bangladesh | 6.5 |
| Sri Lanka | 7.5 |
| Afghanistan | 8.0 |
| Sixth Country (TBD) | 10 |
The first edition of the Asia Cup took place in 1984, and since then, 14 editions of the tournament have taken place. India has been the most dominant team in the tournament, winning 7 Asia Cup trophies in its history, while Sri Lanka is in second place with 5 trophies. The last two editions of the Asia Cup (2016 and 2018) saw India take the trophy, and they would dearly like to make it three in a row.
2022 Asia Cup – Betting Predictions
Our betting experts also believe that India goes in with a clear advantage and agree that they are the betting favourites. India has been the dominant team in this competition, and we expect them once again to have the edge over the rest of the teams.
India has already announced their squad for the 2022 Asia Cup, and the BCCI are sending across a strong squad led by captain Rohit Sharma. Barring any injuries in the lead-up to the tournament, India does look like it has the strongest team on paper.
Their arch-rivals Pakistan will be their biggest threat to making it 3-0 and hence are justified in being the second favourite to win the Asia Cup. Pakistan has a talented bunch of young players that captain Babar Azam will lead.
The last time Pakistan won the Asia Cup was in 2012, nearly a decade ago, and that says a lot about the current state of cricket in Pakistan. The biggest challenge for Pakistan in most ICC tournaments has been their ability to play as a team in crunch situations and not succumb to pressure.
Sri Lankan cricket has suffered in recent years, but the new set of players are slowly looking to turn things around and give their fans something to cheer about, given the grim situation in Sri Lanka at the moment. They are ranked fourth on the betting odds list, but we believe that after India and Pakistan, they have the next best chance of winning the tournament.
Bangladesh recently played poor ODI cricket against Zimbabwe, and their fans were disappointed in their performance. This is one reason we are ranking them in fourth place, as we don’t give them much chance to beat India and Pakistan in crunch games.
Afghanistan is the dark horse in the competition as they have some good players who can perform with bat and ball when it matters. The big question is whether Afghanistan can maintain their composure and perform under pressure when it matters.
Prediction: We think India has the best chance of winning the 2022 Asia Cup and making it three in a row!
