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March 25

Asia Cup Cricket hosting rights

Are India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh the only cricket nations of Asian Cricket Council to have the right to host the Asia Cup? — Preceding unsigned comment added by 70.53.231.241 (talk) 18:04, 25 March 2012 (UTC)[reply]

No, the UAE have hosted it twice - the inaugural tournament in 1984, and again in 1995 (which is actually more recently than India, who have hosted it only once in 1990). You can see the list of tournaments here. AJ Cham 02:55, 26 March 2012 (UTC)[reply]

AFC Asian Cup vs. AFC Challenge Cup

What are the differences between AFC Asian Cup and AFC Challenge Cup? Why Bangladesh has to play Challenge Cup first and then Asian Cup? — Preceding unsigned comment added by 70.53.231.241 (talk) 18:06, 25 March 2012 (UTC)[reply]

The AFC divides member associations into three classes; developed, developing and emerging. The Challenge Cup is primarily intended for emerging nations (of which Bangladesh is one), presumably to encourage improvement and eventually a degree of competitiveness with the higher ranked teams. By winning the Challenge Cup a team can bypass the qualification phase for the Asian Cup. The emerging nations can enter the Asian Cup qualification as any other AFC team, but few do and they don't seem to perform well,* so the Challenge Cup gives them the best chance at reaching the main tournament.

*None entered in 2011, and in 2007 Palestine were the only team to gain any points (4) in the main qualifying phase, but still finished bottom of their group - Pakistan, Bangladesh and Chinese Taipei lost all of their games.

AJ Cham 02:45, 26 March 2012 (UTC)[reply]