The first Asia Cup at home - India won the tournament defeating Sri Lanka again in the final. This match is also notable as Sachin Tendulkar makes his entry into this list with the match where Kapil Dev got a hat-trick (Mahanama, Jayasuriya, Ratnayeke). The Indian team was captained by Azharuddin with a team that contained players whose career was short in this format - Atul Wassan (who is known more for his commentary), Saradindu Mukherjee - as well as players who would represent the country for next few years (Venkatapathy Raju, Manoj Prabhakar, Sanjay Manjrekar, Kiran More).
The tournament itself was a short one because of Pakistan's absence. India thrashed Bangladesh in the first match and lost to Sri Lanka in the second on its way to the finals. Sri Lanka was far away from the team that would win the World Cup in 1996 - Jayasuriya was playing in the lower order then. Murali was nowhere to be seen. Ranatunga had taken the reins and hence the team was ripe for pickings.
The first five batsmen scored from 15 to 49 to take Sri Lanka to a promising score of 150 for 3 before Kapil Dev struck with his hat-trick. The quick wickets ensured that India's target was reduced to a manageable 205 in a reduced match of 45 overs. Sanjay Manjrekar remained unbeaten with 75 while putting on a partnership of 91 with Sachin Tendulkar. But, the hero of the match was captain Azharuddin who scored a quick-fire fifty to take the team to the winning post. The tournament was depleted because of just three teams involved but nevertheless added one more trophy to the Indian cabinet.
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