Pakistan, at last
Pakistan had been due to stage the Asia Cup in 1993 and it had never happened. Fifteen years later the tournament finally reached the country, with three matches at the Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore and the remaining ten at Karachi's National Stadium. It went ahead without incident. Five months later the Mumbai attacks ended bilateral cricket between India and Pakistan, and the 2008 Asia Cup remains the last multi-team event India have played on Pakistani soil.
The format was unchanged from 2004: two groups of three, a Super Fours round-robin, a final. Hong Kong and the United Arab Emirates returned as the associate entrants and again lost both group matches heavily. India's 374 for 4 against Hong Kong, built on MS Dhoni's 109 from 96 balls, produced a 256-run margin.
Runs everywhere
Karachi in midsummer produced flat pitches and enormous scores. Sri Lanka made 357 for 9 against Bangladesh in the group stage and 332 for 8 against them in the Super Fours. India chased 300 against Pakistan on 26 June with Virender Sehwag making 119 from 95 balls, then lost the return fixture on 2 July when Younis Khan replied with 123 not out and Pakistan got 309 for 2 with more than four overs left. On 3 July India chased 309 against Sri Lanka, Gautam Gambhir making 68 and Dhoni taking the man of the match award.
The exception to all this was Ajantha Mendis. A 23-year-old army gunner turned mystery spinner who had made his debut two months earlier, he bowled a mixture of leg-breaks, off-breaks and the flicked delivery that became known as the carrom ball. He took 5 for 22 against the UAE and 4 for 47 against Pakistan, and batsmen who had seen him twice appeared no better prepared than those seeing him for the first time.
The final
Sri Lanka batted first at Karachi on 6 July. Sanath Jayasuriya, thirty-nine years old and in the middle of the most productive tournament of his late career, made 125 from 114 balls, and Sri Lanka were bowled out for 273 with a ball to spare. Ishant Sharma took 3 for 52.
India's reply began well. Sehwag made 60 from 36 balls. Then Mendis came on and took 6 for 13 from eight overs, and India were bowled out for 173 in 39.3. It remains the best bowling in an Asia Cup final and one of the best in any one-day final.
Mendis finished with seventeen wickets, a tournament record that still stands, and both the man of the match and player of the tournament awards. Jayasuriya's 378 runs were also the most by anyone.