Another edition, another absentee
The fourth Asia Cup was played in India over the new year of 1990-91 and, like 1986, went ahead a team short. Pakistan withdrew because of the state of political relations with the host country, so the field was India, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh, and the round-robin produced a table whose top two were obvious before a ball was bowled. The tournament had now been disrupted by a boycott in two of its four editions, and in both cases the missing side was one of the region's two strongest.
The four matches were spread across Chandigarh, Cuttack and Calcutta, and were played over 50 or 45 overs depending on the fixture. Bangladesh, again the associate invitee, were the only side certain not to reach the final.
The group
India opened at the Sector 16 Stadium in Chandigarh on Christmas Day. Bangladesh made 170 for 6 from their 50 overs, Faruk Ahmed batting 126 balls for 57, and Navjot Sidhu then made 104 from 109 as India won by nine wickets with more than 13 overs unused. It was the only hundred of the tournament.
Three days later at Cuttack, Sri Lanka beat India by 36 runs in a match that mattered for pride rather than qualification. Arjuna Ranatunga made 53 and Rumesh Ratnayake took 3 for 24; India, chasing 215, were bowled out for 178. Sri Lanka then beat Bangladesh at Eden Gardens on the last day of the year, Aravinda de Silva making 89 from 60 balls. Athar Ali Khan's unbeaten 78 for the losing side was good enough to take the man of the match award.
The final
Both teams returned to Eden Gardens on 4 January. Sri Lanka batted first in a 45-over match and made 204 for 9. Ranatunga top-scored again with 49, and Kapil Dev took 4 for 31 from his nine overs, the best bowling of the tournament and enough to make him its leading wicket-taker.
India's reply was controlled rather than dramatic. Sanjay Manjrekar finished on 75 not out from 95 balls and the captain, Mohammad Azharuddin, was named man of the match. India won by seven wickets with nearly three overs to spare, taking a third Asia Cup and a second in succession.
No player of the tournament was named, which was reasonable enough for a competition of four matches and three teams. It was the last Asia Cup for four and a half years: the 1993 edition, which was to have been staged in Pakistan, was cancelled when India and Pakistan could not agree terms, and the competition did not resume until Sharjah in 1995.