Sri Lankan cricket team carved their name in the history books by lifting sixth Asia Cup title on September 11 (Sunday) at Dubai International Stadium. Dasun Shanaka-led side defeated Pakistan Cricket Team by 23-run in a thrilling final of the continental tournament on the back of impressive performances from Bhanuka Rajapaksa and Wanindu Hasaranga.
Notably, Pakistan came to the final after losing their last game at Super-4 stage against Sri Lanka and succumbed to the same rivals in the high-voltage final. However, Sri Lanka was highly underrated by the cricket fraternity ahead of the tournament. While Sri Lanka never looked like favorites for the title, it was India and Pakistan who were being considered two finalist of the T20 Asia Cup 2022.
Interestingly, Sri Lanka got zero vote in a poll survey conducted by the Star Sports, where it was asked who will become Asia Cup 2022 winners. Defending champions India got 69 per cent votes. Meanwhile, Pakistan scored 12 per cent, and the most noteworthy conclusion of the poll was that Afghanistan got 19 per cent of votes to lift the title. However, a week later, Sri Lanka proved everyone wrong and emerged as a champion of the Asia Cup 2022. After Sri Lanka's historic victory, the screenshot of the fan poll conducted by Star Sports surfaced on social media reminding everyone how Dasun Shanaka-led side were not even in the race for finals.
The nation which is facing massive inflation and economic crisis was supposed to host the tournament but due to political and economic instability in the country, the tournament was moved to United Arab of Emirates.