In cricket, a five-wicket haul (also known as a "fiveâÂÂfor" or "fifer") refers to a bowler taking five or more wickets in a single innings. There have been 16 instances of a bowler taking a five-wicket haul in Asia Cup games. The Asia Cup is an either One Day International format (50 overs) and Twenty20 International cricket format (20 overs) tournament organised by the Asian Cricket Council, a subordinate of the International Cricket Council (ICC). Originally started as a biennial tournament in 1984, it has since been organised 16 times as of the latest edition in 2023.
The first five-wicket haul in the tournament was taken by India's Arshad Ayub in the 1988 tournamenthe took five wickets for 21 runs against Pakistan. In the 1995 edition, Pakistan's Aaqib Javed took five wickets for 19 runs against India. These two bowling figures feature in the "Top 100 ODI bowling performances of all time", a list compiled and released by the Wisden Cricketers' Almanack in 2002. No five-wicket hauls were taken in the 1990âÂÂ91, 2000 and 2004 tournaments.
The Sri Lankans lead the list with nine five-wicket haulsAjantha Mendis and Lasith Malinga are the only bowlers to have taken more than one five-wicket haul in the tournament's history. The former achieved the feat two times, both in 2008, while the latter has done it three timesonce in the 2010 tournament and two times in 2014. Mendis' six wickets for 13 runs against India in the final of the 2008 edition is the best by any bowler across all tournaments. India's Bhuvneshwar Kumar is the only bowler to have five-wicket haul in T20 Asia Cup.