The race for the Asian cricket champion is set to start in the Northern Sri Lankan city of Dambulla as the top four top teams of the continent take on each other in a battle for supremacy.

This year’s edition is the tenth time the tournament is being staged, the Indians and Sri Lankans have reigned supreme in the competition with both teams winning the title four times each. Pakistan has won the tournament only once when they outplayed Sri Lanka in the final of the 2000 edition staged in Bangladesh.

The Bangladeshis who have featured in all nine editions of the tournament are the favourite whipping boys of the three Asian giants. Once again, they start the tournament as massive underdogs and even a single win for them against any of their three opponents would come as a huge bonus for Shakib-Ul-Hasan’s men.

The opening match is being played between the hosts and reigning champions Sri Lanka and Pakistan. The Sri Lankans won the tournament held in 2008, when Ajantha Mendis tore through the powerful batting line-up of the Indians, claiming six wickets in the final played at the national stadium Karachi.

Meanwhile Pakistan is taking part in the tournament under the leadership of Shahid Afridi who is leading the team for the first time in a fifty over event; he was not that inspiring in the T20 World championship held in the Caribbean, yet the flamboyant all-rounder has the ability to turn on the heat and change the complexion of a game with-in minutes.

The men in green have also rung in the changes for the event by bringing in Shoaib Malik and Shoaib Akhtar in the squad besides including the trio of Umer Amin, Asad Shafiq and Shahzeb Hasan.

The three youngsters have done remarkably well in the limited over competitions held in the country, while Shahzeb Hasan was unlucky to miss out on national selection after an admirable start to his international career in the T20 World Championship held in England in 2009.

Pakistan would once again be relying on their pace battery led by Shoaib Akhtar, Mohammad Asif and Mohammad Amir, the spinners in the squad are Saeed Ajmal, Afridi and Shoaib Malik.

On the other hand, the hosts are fresh after securing a win in the tri-series held in Zimbabwe where the third participant was India.

Led by Kumar Snagakkara, the hosts will start the tournament as favourites for the event and would be relying on their batsmen, besides the all-round talent of their squad.

The pace cum spin attack can cause real problems for the opposition on the Dambulla track.

Nuwan Kulasekra, Farveez Mahroof, Lasith Malinga and Angelo Matthews would be spearheading the pace attack, while the spin department will be manned by the veteran Muttiah Muralitheran along with Rangana Herath and Suraj Randiv.

One major cause for concern for the batsmen is the Dambulla track where run making is a tough proposition, given the slowness of the track.

The ball also jags around at the start of the innings, hence the batsmen cannot take the conditions for granted and plant their front foot forward and smash the ball around.

The highest total at the ground is 289 which is considerably lesser than the scores in most of the other grounds around the sub continent.

The conditions are expected to get tougher under artificial lights, at least at the start of the innings, yet the equation is balanced out by the possibility of dew falling on the ground in the second innings which can make gripping the ball tough for the bowlers.

All seven matches of the tournament will be played at Dambulla. The tournament ends on the 24th of June when the final between the top two teams in the standings takes place after the completion of all the league matches.

The action is set to start tomorrow, yet what remains to be seen is if the ongoing football craze takes a back seat and the Asian cup takes over as the sport to watch for the next ten days.
Jago News