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The Asia Cup contests have, over the years, entertained, inspired awe, presented world cricket fans with several other Asian teams beyond the pull and charm of the old guards India, Sri Lanka, and Pakistan, and presented exciting cricketing contests for well over a period of a decade and a half. They’ve produced some interesting talents from the part of teams like the UAE, Hong Kong. and Afghanistan.
But given the T20I format, which has formed the basis of several past Asia Cup editions, there have also been contests that have led to a dry run with the bat as seen in the case of several batters. This has led to various low scoring totals and in many cases, embarrassing team efforts. That being told, as a brand new season is underway of the 2035 Asia Cup, let us examine the lowest team totals in Men’s Asia Cup T20I history and understand what happened in four such matches and why.
Here is a List of lowest team totals in Asia Cup T20I history:
1. Hong Kong 38 all out in 2022 vs Pakistan
The lowest total ever recorded in all Asia Cup T20I contests came three years ago in 2022, when Hong Kong scored just 38 runs being all out against Pakistan.
In the sixth contest of that year’s tournament held at Sharjah, Hong Kong were only able to stay at the wicket for 10.4 overs in their chase of 194. Batting first, Pakistan scored a massive 193 helped by a Rizwan special - 78 unbeaten runs.
But in reply, Hong Kong saw all their batters managing single digit scores, with captain Nizakat Khan making eight runs. The captain of the then side scoring the most runs, actually, by any HK batter; Mohammad Nawaz and Naseem Shah tore into the unsuspecting and perhaps unprepared line up.
2. UAE 57 all out in 2025 vs India
Yet another occasion where the UAE men’s team scored another low scoring total, which was hardly anything to contest or challenge a supremely powerful looking indian side. Except, this latest downer for the UAE side happened just a day ago on their own home turf and in the tournament opener for the 2025 edition.
Unable to handle Kuldeep’s spin assault and barely able to manage Bumrah and Varun Chakravarthy, the UAE side folded for just 57 runs and in reply, India breezed past a very easy total with nine wickets left in the tank. While all of Dubai arose to salute Kuldeep’s brilliance in his 4 for 7, the hosts couldn’t even last 14 overs out there. They stayed at the wicket for 79 deliveries, to be precise.
3. UAE 81 for 9 in 2016 vs India
It could be said that the UAE team have had much better days in the other ICC tournaments than their run in 2016’s Asia Cup tournament. In a contest against India, giants at the elite level of the contest, the UAE team found itself recording a pitiable score of just 81 for 9 in a contest held that year in Bangladesh.
They batted first and it could be said were glad to have Shaiman Anwar scoring 43 runs, which was more than half of their entire team’s score. Back then each of India’s bowlers deployed to put pressure on the UAE side succeeded with Bhuvneshwar Kumar taking two wickets while the likes of Bumrah, Harbhajan Singh, Yuvraj Singh, and Pawan Negi also chipping in with a wicket apiece.
India made light work of the modest ask chasing down the total inside eleven overs with Rohit Sharma scoring breezy innings.
4. UAE 82 all out in 2016 vs Bangladesh
Let’s just say that where it comes to the Asia Cup T20I matches, UAE haven’t really had the best of times. In 2016, in a T20I held against Bangladesh at Mirpur, the UAE team found themselves in pursuit of 134, with Bangladesh making 133 runs having batted first. But the team from the Emirates region was bundled out for just 82 runs.
It’s not always that in a T20 contest, one team loses by a margin of over 50 runs; this then was the elite Asia Cup tournament. A Mahmudullah-special with brilliance in both departments of the contest, if it could be called one (given how incompetent UAE were) took the game away from from them, who fell short drastically in their chase while only two batters from the chasing side were able to register double digit scores.
FAQs
Which team features most in the list of lowest totals in the Asia Cup T20I history?
Where it comes to the all time top five lowest team totals in the tournament’s T20I format, UAE features thrice on the list.
Which team has the lowest team total in Men’s Asia Cup T20I history?
That unwanted record rests with Hong Kong for being 38 all out.
