Is This the Most Challenging Era for Asian Cricket?
The dominance of Asian teams seems to fade over the last few years in world cricket. Even with strong teams such as India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Afghanistan, and more, only India seems to be representing the continent in ICC events.
The dominance of Asian teams seems to fade over the last few years in world cricket. Even with strong teams such as India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Afghanistan, and more, only India seems to be representing the continent in ICC events. With Sri Lanka being knocked out of the T20 World Cup, there are chances of no Asian team in an ICC Semi-final stage.
The T20 World Cup gets more heated, as one of the hosts has been knocked out of the tournament. Sri Lanka suffered a brutal defeat to New Zealand, losing by 61 runs. This also marked their second loss in the Super Eight stages, which made them knocked out of the tournament. Now, India and Pakistan remain .
India will be playing its next game against Zimbabwe, to keep themselves in line for the next stage. But the key concern lies in the dominance of Asian teams, which has faded over the last few years. When it comes to the ICC events, currently it is only India among all the Asian teams, who find themselves in the semi-final stages.
Let's take a look at the last four ICC events and how the Asian teams have done in the same.
ODI World Cup 2023
The ODI World Cup 2023 was hosted by India and several Asian teams participated in the same. The conditions almost remain the same, and it was expected that the teams would be taking advantage of this over the others. But that didn't happen and it was just India, who managed to reach the semi-final stages.
- India: Runners-up
- Pakistan: 5th Position
- Afghanistan: 6th Position
- Bangladesh: 8th Position
- Sri Lanka: 9th Position
Eventually, India was also able to secure a dominant victory against New Zealand to march into the World Cup finals. Despite their dominant form in the tournament, the team fell short to win the World Cup final against Australia. Apart from them, no other Asian team even managed to reach the next stage.
Pic Source: ESPNcricinfo
Sri Lanka and Bangladesh were among the first teams to get knocked out of the tournament. Afghanistan had a close chance to reach the next stage but they suffered a loss against Australia, the game which was almost in their hands. The same also happened with Pakistan, as they fell short by a win against England or South Africa.
T20 World Cup 2024
The T20 World Cup 2024 saw a slight resurgence of the Asian teams. This tournament even had the participation of associate teams but their performances didn't go well. Still it was the powerhouse India, who remained dominant throughout the tournament. They didn't just reach the finals, they defeated South Africa to win the tournament.
- India: Champions
- Afghanistan: Semi-final
- Bangladesh: Super Eight
- Pakistan: Group Stage
- Oman: Group Stage
- Sri Lanka: Group Stage
- Nepal: Group Stage
Afghanistan also had some brilliant performances in this tournament. The team reached the Super Eight and even won the do-or-die game against Australia. That win allowed Afghanistan to march into the semi-final stages. However, they lost the semi-final clash against South Africa by 9 wickets, pulling them out of the tournament.
Pic Source: ESPNcricinfo
Other teams such as Sri Lanka, Pakistan, Oman, and Nepal were not able to make it to the Super Eight. Bangladesh advanced to the Super Eight stages but they were not able to secure even a single win in the same. Moreover, Pakistan had an upset loss against USA, which resulted in them being knocked out of the Group stage.
Champions Trophy 2025
In the Champions Trophy 2025, Pakistan were the hosts and fans expected more of the Asian teams to perform well. Out of the eight teams participating in the tournament, four of them were from the Asian continent. Still, it was only India who managed to reach the next stage of the tournament.
- India: Champions
- Afghanistan: Group Stage
- Pakistan: Group Stage
- Bangladesh: Group Stage
India marched into the semi-final stages and went against the 2023 World Cup ghosts, Australia. Virat Kohli’s powerful knock helped India to chase the target and reach the finals against New Zealand. And in the final clash, then captain Rohit Sharma played a match winning knock to help India get another ICC trophy.
Pic Source: ESPNcricinfo
Other teams such as Afghanistan, Bangladesh, and Pakistan didn't make it to the semi-final stages. And out of all these three teams, only Afghanistan managed to secure a win in the tournament while all others remained winless. Sri Lanka, on the other hand, failed to qualify for the Champions Trophy.
T20 World Cup 2026
Now in the T20 World Cup 2026, the same form continues. Three Asian teams managed to reach the Super Eight stages of the tournament, but now only two of them remain in the semi-final race. India has a higher chance of reaching the next stage as compared to Pakistan, while Sri Lanka has been knocked out of the tournament.
- India: Super Eight* (Chances to reach Semi-final)
- Pakistan: Super Eight* (Chances to reach Semi-final)
- Sri Lanka: Super Eight
- Afghanistan: Group Stage
- Oman: Group Stage
- UAE: Group Stage
- Nepal: Group Stage
Sri Lanka faced New Zealand in a virtual knockout game at their home ground. Still, they ended up losing the match and now stand out of the T20 World Cup semi-final race. India and Pakistan are yet to secure wins in the Super Eight, which provides them with less chances to advance, as compared to the other teams.
Pic Source: ESPNcricinfo
Other teams such as Nepal, Afghanistan, Oman, and the UAE managed to finish in the Group stages only. Bangladesh was also a part of the tournament until they decided to pull off at the very last moment. It will be great for Asian cricket if both India and Pakistan manage to reach the semi-final stages.
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