LAHORE - India and Pakistan renew their cricket rivalry after almost a year's break when they take part in the Asia Cup one-day tournament starting in Dhaka on Sunday.
Buoyant Sri Lanka and hosts Bangladesh, the other two teams in the fray to determine one-day supremacy on the continent, play the opening match at the Sher-e-Bangla stadium in Dhaka. But the focus is already on the March 18 tie, the first between the arch-rivals since the high-profile World Cup semifinal at Mohali last March, which India won on their way to clinching the showpiece title.
Pakistan captain Misbah-ul-Haq, whose team were blanked 4-0 by England recently, said the match against India would be a highlight. "Against India it is something special because of the supporters of Pakistan and India," he said. "Everyone wants to enjoy India-Pakistan rivalry and that adds to the pressure. But we want to play good cricket and improve our own performance. It's going to be a tough tournament."
India severed cricket links with its neighbour after the deadly 2008 Mumbai attacks, which New Delhi blamed on militants based across the border in Pakistan. The Asia Cup will be the first assignment for new Pakistan coach Dav Whatmore, the former Australian international who guided Sri Lanka to World Cup glory in 1996.
The last year or so of international cricket after the conclusion of the 2011 ICC Cricket World Cup has been a roller coaster ride for all the subcontinent teams. After spending most of the season battling the best in the world, the subcontinent's top stars return home as they engage in the ultimate war for Asian supremacy as Bangladesh gets set to host the 2012 Asia Cup.
The Pakistan team has been its usual unpredictable self in recent months as they have had patchy performances against all their opponents but haven't been consistent enough to reap rewards at this level. Their batting has been a major cause of concern, with none of their batsmen showing the temperament needed to convert their starts into bigger and more substantial knocks.
Despite recent failures against England, Pakistan have retained nearly the same core of their batsmen but for the exclusion of the experienced Shoaib Malik, opener Imran Farhat and wicket keeper Adnan Akmal. This gives the left handed opening bat, Nasir Jamshed another crack at the national team duties while wicket keeper batsman Safraaz Ahmed has also been recalled for this tournament. This means the middle order will in all likelihood be assumed by the young trio of Umar Akmal, Asad Shafiq and Azhar Ali who will be aided by the calming influence of senior pro's like Misbah Ul Haq and Younus Khan.
Pakistan's bowling has been their lone reason for celebration in recent times as they have delivered more often than not in crunch games. The deadly trio of Umar Gul, Saeed Ajmal and Shahid Afridi have caused most good batting units some problems in recent times and one can be rest assured that they will be the danger men this time around too. The inclusion of experienced sub-continent team coach Dav Whatmore into their ranks will definitely aid Pakistan's struggling young batsmen but it remains to be seen if he will indeed inspire them to glory in his first assignment as coach.
India are the defending Asian champions and are always a threatening opposition whenever their players take the field however their recent bashing to the hands of Australia would have seriously demoralised the players but they still have some reasons to stay strong in the Asia Cup 2012.
India hope to make amends after their disastrous tours of England and Australia, where they lost both the Test and one-day series. India, who won the last Asia Cup title in Sri Lanka in 2010, have rested hard-hitting opener Virender Sehwag and key paceman Zaheer Khan, but will feel at home on the low, slow pitches in Dhaka.
The tournament provides Indian batting superstar Sachin Tendulkar with yet another opportunity to record an unprecedented 100th international century. The world record-holder has gone a year without a three-figure knock since scoring his 99th ton in a World Cup match against South Africa in Nagpur last March.
During the Tour Down Under, reports of serious rift among Indian captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni and senior opening batsman Virender Sehwag were emerged in the international media and while the Board of Cricket Control in India (BCCI) officials did deny such reports but something is really cooking in the Indian dressing room. Team India will have to sort out their internal differences to play like a cohesive unit in Bangladesh.
Despite of a dismal Australian tour, Team India was able to produce some classic individual performances, especially by their young players. The rise of Virat Kohli was not a surprise to anyone as the young batsman has already made a strong case of becoming future Indian captain with his tremendous knowledge of the game and his ability to play match-winning knocks. Apart from Virat Kohli, other young players like Ravindra Jadeja and Umesh Yadav.
But Indian team seriously lacks a set of bowlers which can win them matches on consistent basis. India don’t have bowling resources which can threaten opposition batsmen but if the Asia Cup 2012 organisers prepare turning pitches then India would certainly fancy their chances as their spin-bowling-resources are capable enough to back their batting might.
Sri Lanka is the only South Asian cricket team which has achieved phenomenal success ahead of the Asia Cup 2012. Sri Lanka, who finished runners-up to India in the World Cup, have produced encouraging results after reappointing Mahela Jayawardene as captain and South African Graham Ford as coach. They not only knocked India out of the recent tri-series in Australia, but also gave the hosts a close run before losing the best-of-three final 2-1.
Irrespective of result of the third final, Sri Lanka have emerged as a brilliant cricket team under Jayawardene who has impressed everyone with his witty captaincy and an aggressive attitude in Australia. Under his captaincy, Sri Lanka have defeated Australia four times in their seven matches in the CB Series 2012, which is a great achievement in itself.
Lankan team bears a semi-newish look for the Asia Cup as their test match bowlers have been given time off from the game and their batting core has been retained in this series. Their batting has looked increasingly menacing in recent times with their new found approach of playing positive and more expressive cricket with their captain and ex-captain duo in Mahela Jayawardene and Tillakaratne Dilshan leading from the front at the top of the order. Their young middle order comprising of Dinesh Chandimal, Lahiru Thirimanne and Angelo Matthews have responded brilliantly to this approach which is starting to work wonders for them.
Rest to a couple of their Test bowlers in Chanaka Welegedera and Ranganna Herath means young bowlers Suranga Lakmal and Sekkuge Prasanna have another chance to stake a claim for a permanent place. But there may not be many changes in the playing side for this series too as their all-rounders Matthews and Thisara Perera will lend some much needed balance to their side and Lasith Malinga along with Nuwan Kulasekara will lead the way with the new ball and at the death.
Bangladesh are hosting the event and one may expect turning pitches for the tournament so as to give the home team advantage over other participants but lack of quality in the Bengali side is likely to keep them away from winning the title yet again. The only realistic advantage that the Bangladesh cricket team has is their home advantage. Bangladeshi people love their cricket and the national team and are expected to fill in stadiums for each game of the Asia Cup 2012. With tremendous home support on their back, the Bangladeshi cricketers can pull off an upset or two in the tournament, but winning Asia Cup title is still a far cry for them.
The recently concluded Bangladesh Premier League has also brought some life back into their cricket again and has unearthed a couple of useful limited overs talents. Their squad comprises of a decent group of players who have represented the national side before. The last minute inclusion of out of favour opener Tamim Iqbal has sprung some controversy in the camp but if he fires in this tournament, it will go a long way in Bangaldesh causing a couple of upsets along the line. Their top order will be headed by impressive opener Nasir Hossain and Imrul Kayes while the middle order will comprise of ex-captain Shakib Al Hasan, Juhurul Islam and captain Mushfiqur Rahim. The all-round abilities of vice-captain Mahmudullah Riyadh will bolster this teams balance. The return of once prodigal fast bowler Mashrafe Murtuza will spice up their bowling while Elias Sunny, Abdur Razzaq, Shafiul Islam and Shahadat Hossain will offer tidy bowling options for captain Mushfiqur.
Each side will play the other once in the round-robin league, with the top two advancing to the final on March 22.

Previous winners

Year    Winner
1983/84    India
1985/86    Sri Lanka
1988/89    India
1990/91    India
1994/95    India
1997    Sri Lanka
2000    Pakistan
2004    Sri Lanka
2008    Sri Lanka
2010    India

Most Runs

Player    Team    Span    Mat    Runs    HS    Ave    100    50
S Jayasuriya    SL    1990-2008    25    1220    130    53.04    6    3
S Tendulkar    Ind    1990-2004    20    799    112*    49.93    1    6
A Ranatunga    SL    1984-1997    19    741    131*    57.00    1    6
K Sangakkara    SL    2004-2010    16    685    121    48.92    3    4
A de Silva    SL    1984-2000    24    645    96*    32.25    0    4
M Atapattu    SL    1997-2004    13    642    100    64.20    1    6
Inzamam-ul-Haq    Pak    1995-2004    15    591    88    59.10    0    6
Shoaib Malik    Pak    2000-2010    12    575    143    63.88    3    1
N Sidhu    India    1988-1997    14    530    104*    66.25    1    6
S Ganguly    India    1997-2004    13    518    135*    51.80    1    4

Most Wickets

Player    Team    Span    Mat    Wkts    BBI    Ave
M Muralitharan    SL    1995-2010    24    30    5/31    28.83
C Vaas    SL    1995-2008    19    23    3/30    27.78
S Jayasuriya    SL    1990-2008    25    22    4/49    30.31
A Mendis     SL    2008-2008    5    17    6/13    8.52
Abdul Qadir    Pak    1984-1988    8    17    3/15    14.76
S Tendulkar    Ind    1990-2004    20    17    3/21    20.70
I Pathan    Ind    2004-2008    9    17    3/28    26.05
Wasim Akram    Pak    1986-2000    12    16    4/19    18.56
Abdul Razzaq    Pak    2000-2010    11    16    4/29    20.18
Kapil Dev    Ind    1988-1991    7    15    4/31    13.00

highest score

Player    Runs    Balls    Team    Opposition    Ground
Younus Khan    144    122    Pakistan    Hong Kong    Colombo
Shoaib Malik    143    127    Pakistan    India    Colombo
S Ganguly    135*    124    India    Bangladesh    Dhaka
A Ranatunga    131*    152    Sri Lanka    India    Colombo
S Jayasuriya    130    132    Sri Lanka    India    Colombo
S Jayasuriya    130    88    Sri Lanka    Bangladesh    Karachi
Shoaib Malik    125*    119    Pakistan    India    Karachi
ST Jayasuriya    125    114    Sri Lanka    India    Karachi
Ijaz Ahmed    124*    87    Pakistan    Bangladesh    Chittagong
Shahid Afridi    124    60    Pakistan    Bangladesh    Dambulla

Best Bowling in a match

Player    Overs    Wkts    Team    Opposition    Ground
BAW Mendis    8.0    6    Sri Lanka    India    Karachi
Aaqib Javed    9.0    5    Pakistan    India    Sharjah
Arshad Ayub    9.0    5    India    Pakistan    Dhaka
BAW Mendis    6.3    5    Sri Lanka    U.A.E.    Lahore
M Muralitharan    10.0    5    Sri Lanka    Bangladesh    Karachi
SL Malinga    10.0    5    Sri Lanka    Pakistan    Dambulla
Saqlain Mushtaq    9.3    5    Pakistan    Bangladesh    Colombo
MF Maharoof    10.0    5    Sri Lanka    India    Dambulla
Sohail Tanvir    10.0    5    Pakistan    Sri Lanka    Karachi
V Sehwag    2.5    4    India    Bangladesh    Dambulla