India won the Asia Cup for the fourth time by defeating Sri Lanka at Sharjah. Thanks to the exploits of Sachin Tendulkar in the league phase, India reached the finals to play against Sri Lanka again.
Post-Kapil Dev's retirement, Manoj Prabhakar was the leading bowler for the Indian team, ably supported by Javagal Srinath and Venkatesh Prasad in the pace department. Anil Kumble would be the leading spinner, supported by many spinners at different times - in this tournament, it would be Ashish Kapoor and Utpal Chaterjee.
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In the final, despite Gurusinha's 85, the Indian bowlers restricted the Lankan batsmen with no one else scoring more than 22! Extras were the second highest in the innings at 37. Prasad and Kumble would take wickets while Ashish Kapoor bowled a restrictive spell. Despite Sachin's early fall, India cruised to victory thanks to the heroics of Siddhu and captain Azharuddin.
Azharuddin was by now the most successful Indian captains and he had a good nucleus created. The Indians were winning tournaments in the subcontinent and it was expected that they would mount a serious challenge for the 1996 World Cup to be staged in India.
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