WATCH: Top India vs Pakistan thrillers and other classic matches of Asia Cup

Asia Cup holds a special place in the hearts of the fans as it gives them the chance to prove their dominance in the sub-continent. The tournament initially started with India, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka taking part in it. Gradually, it kept on increasing with the teams adding to it.

Meanwhile, the Asia Cup 2022 is scheduled to take place in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) from Saturday (27 August). The tournament can be dubbed as dress rehearsal for Asia’s top cricketing nations ahead of the T20 World Cup 2022, which will commence in October later this year.

A total of six teams will feature in the Asia Cup 2022 tournament. India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, and Afghanistan are the confirmed participants, while the winner of a qualifying tournament, which is already underway in Oman, will join India and Pakistan in Group A in the secondary stage of the tournament. Singapore, UAE, Kuwait, and Hong Kong are the teams that are competing in the Asia Cup qualifier.

Interestingly, seven-time champions of the Asia Cup – India, will this time face their arch rivals Pakistan in their tournament opener and the greatest rivalry will feature not once or twice, but potentially thrice in the tournament if both teams make it to the finals.

Before the T20I action kicks off, take a look at top thrilling clashes between India and Pakistan and some other classics of Asia Cup:

Harbhajan vs Akhtar in 2010 Asia Cup

Most cricket fans remembered this match because of Harbhajan Singh and Shoaib Akhtar's verbal spat.

Harbhajan Singh smashed a big six off Akhtar, who in return bowled couple of bouncers in the next over, following which a fiery exchange took place between the two players.

The match started with Pakistan batting first with Salman Butt's 74 taking the side to 267 before they were bundled out. In reply, Gautam Gambhir's 83 and MS Dhoni's 56 kept India in the quest and Harbhajan eventually helped the side archives a thrilling victory.

Javed Miandad’s last ball six off Chetan Sharma in 1986 Austral-Asia Cup final:

It was the final of the 1986 Austral-Asia Cup in Sharjah and former Pakistan captain Javed Miandad did something unimaginable as he smashed Indian pacer Chetan Sharma for a six on the last ball of the match to help his team win the trophy.

Requiring four runs in one ball, Sharma bowled a low full-toss to Miandad, which the latter hammered away to the boundary. The Pakistan batter scored 116 not out in the match. Batting first, India had set Pakistan a target of 246 runs.

Virat Kohli’s scintillating 183 against Pakistan in 2012 Asia Cup:

Another worth remembering match, Pakistan batting first on a friendly pitch put up a huge total of 329/6 in their 50 overs. But, India star batter Virat Kohli was up for the challenge as he smashed a fantastic 183 off 148 balls, a score that remains his best in ODIs to date.

The right-handed batter's blistering knock was decorated with 22 fours and one six and it helped India win the game by 6 wickets and 13 balls remaining.

Tendulkar’s 100^th ton went in vain as Bangladesh stunned India in Asia Cup 2012:

Fans were eagerly waiting for Sachin Tendulkar to hit his 100^th ton in international cricket, but the humungous feat, which came during the 2012 Asia Cup match, went in vain as India was stunned by Bangladesh, who won the match by five wickets.

Sachin scored 114 runs from 147 deliveries to help India reach a competitive tally of 289 runs. However, collective batting effort from Bangladesh batters helped their team win the match convincingly which left Team India shell-shocked.

Pakistan thumped Bangladesh by 2 runs in the 2012 Asia Cup final:

Bangladesh stunned all the major teams to make it to the final of the 2012 Asia Cup. The Tigers were even close to clinching their first major international title, in front of a packed home crowd but destiny had some other plans.

Pakistan managed to score modest 236 runs after they were asked to bat first. In reply, Tamim Iqbal and Shakib Al Hasan scored fifties each and it looked like Bangladesh will win the match without much trouble. However, Pakistan pacer Umar Gul removed Tamim Iqbal which opened gates for the sudden turnaround as well.

With 23 runs required of 18 ball and 4 wickets in hand, the chase looked in Bangladesh's favour. But, they managed to get only 20 runs thus losing the final by 2 runs.

“If I had scored two more runs we would have won the game, we came so close to win the Asia Cup,” said the player of the tournament, Shakib Al Hasan.

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