5 Indian cricketers you might not know are Asia Cup winners

The Asia Cup is a tournament that has been running for the last 34 years. The history of the tournament is rich and it has been embellished with a number of cricketing stars over the years, even as the game has developed and evolved.

Generally, a 50-over tournament, the Asia Cup was concised into a 20-over affair in 2016 ahead of the World T20. India is the leader in Asia Cup titles, having won the tournament five times.

The upcoming edition will be a 50-over tournament again and will have some of the best stars in the continent locking horns. Several players from the past have been part of the biennial tournament for India, but some surprising names have won the title over the course of the last three and a half decades.

We look back at such names:

#5 Sanjay Manjrekar

SANJAY MANJREKAR PORTRAIT

The cricketer-turned-commentator has been part of television broadcasting for a while now, after his India career did not take off as expected. He was part of the team that participated in and won the 1995 Asia Cup, also called the Pepsi Cup, between India, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka, as well as the team that won the Cup in 1990-91 under Mohammad Azharuddin's captaincy.

Manjrekar, in all, totalled 162 runs from four innings at an average of 81, with a best of 75 not out, which came in the finals of the 1990-91 edition at the Eden Gardens. He scored a total of two fifties in the Asia Cup across the two editions.

His 74-match ODI career did not progress after 1996.

#4 Vinod Kambli

Vinod Kambli

The enfant terrible of Indian cricket in the 1990s, Vinod Kambli was part of the Asia Cup winning squad in 1995, a year before the controversial game against Sri Lanka in the World Cup at Eden Gardens.

He played just two games and got to bat in one of them, failing to score a single run. He managed to extend his ODI career until 2000 with several comeback, but couldn't cement his place in the middle order.

After 2000, Sourav Ganguly took over and infused youth in the Indian line-up, after which Kambli's international career never recovered.

#3 Ravi Shastri

Ravi Shastri

The current Team India coach was a useful all-rounder for India throughout the 1980s, and was named the Champion of Champions during the World Series in 1985.

He was with the side that won the inaugural edition of the tournament in 1984, and ended up taking the most wickets in the series (4). He missed out from the 1988 win but was back with the team that won the 1990-91 edition.

He played just two games in the 90-91 edition, picking up zero wickets and scoring just 10 runs. Navjot Singh Sidhu and Sanjay Manjrekar were stars with the bat for India in that series.

In 2018, he is back with the team, but in the capacity of a coach, and will be eyeing another title win.

#2 Sunil Gavaskar

Gavaskar with Dhoni

He is one of the greatest batsmen to have ever played for India and arguably their greatest opener in Tests, but had an average ODI career. He played over a 100 games and managed to hit only one century, but was part of several important Indian triumphs, including the World Cup in 1983, the 1985 World Series of Cricket and the 1984 Asia Cup.

The 1984 edition, the first of the Asia Cup, involved just three teams - India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka. Led by Gavaskar, the Indian team won both their games, and eventually the title.

Wicket-keeper batsman Surinder Khanna turned out to be the Man of the Series, in a tournament where Gavaskar did not have to do much with the bat.

#1 Ashok Dinda

Ashok Dinda

One of the most promising Indian pacers of the 2010s, Ashok Dinda lost his way after a bright start. He could not keep his economy rates under check and gave away too many runs, while playing both for India and during the IPL.

He played only 13 ODIs and nine T20Is for India between 2010 and 2013 but was part of the team that won the 2010 Asia Cup.

He played just one game in the entire tournament, failing to pick up a wicket, yet walked away with the title but was dropped from the team after that.

After a two year gap, Dinda was called to the ODI team again, for yet another edition of the Asia Cup, but he failed to impress, picking up just two wickets in two games.