That Sharjah was given the honour of hosting Asia's biggest cricketing event, when it didn't even have a cricket team, was because the concept for such a tournament came from the then Cricketers' Benefit Fund Series (CBFS) authorities, Abdul Rahman Bukhatir, Qasim Noorani and Asif Iqbal.
India won the inaugural event held in April 1984, with Sri Lanka finishing runner-up and Pakistan taking up third position. The tournament did not have a final, and the winners were decided on the team that topped the round robin league standings.
A large gathering of very prominent cricketing personalities and officials from India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, UAE, Bangladesh, Malaysia and Singapore formed the ACC when they met in New Delhi in 1983.
N.K.P. Salve was elected president, A.W. Kanmadikar, secretary and M.A. Chiddambaram, treasurer - all from India.
``The ACC was formed to build and foster cricket in the Asian region and to speak for Asian cricket as a cohesive unit,'' said Nuski Mohamed, a former secretary of the Sri Lanka Cricket Board and the ACC.
Over the years the ACC has not only assured the Asia Cup be held regularly under its aegis, but has played an active role in ensuring the World Cup came to the sub-continent on two occasions in 1987 and in 1996.
Further, the elevation of Jagmohan Dalmiya of India to the ICC presidency last month is also a significant factor of how proficient the ACC has become in its 14 years of existence.
Mohamed was to play a prominent role along with the late and former president of the Sri Lanka Cricket Board, Gamini Dissanayake in Sri Lanka becoming the first of the three Test-playing member nations of the ACC to host the Asia Cup.
That tournament, the second in the series, took place in March-April 1986 when by rotation, Sri Lankan officials held the top posts of the ACC - Dissanayake (president), Mohamed (secretary) and Chandra Schaafter (treasurer).
When India pulled out due to the ethnic crisis, the Cricket Board's quick thinking saved the tournament from becoming a flop. They invited New Zealand to be the fourth team and ran two tournaments concurrently - the Asia Cup with Sri Lanka, Pakistan and Bangladesh, and the Triangular with Sri Lanka, Pakistan and New Zealand.
Sri Lanka under the leadership of Duleep Mendis, the present manager, took the Asia Cup defeating Imran Khan's Pakistanis in the final by five wickets at the SSC grounds. Pakistan received some compensation when they won the Triangular on a better run rate after all three teams had finished equal on points.
Bangladesh made their first appearance in the Asia Cup in this tournament. Two years later, they undertook to host the third Asia Cup in October/November 1988 where for the first time, all four countries were represented. India ran out winners with Sri Lanka as runner-up.
The next two Asia Cup competitions held in India in December/January 1990-91 and in Sharjah in April 1995 produced the same results - India champions and Sri Lanka runner-up.
The fact that the tournament returned to Sharjah was because Pakistan were unable to host it when it came to their turn in 1992-93. Pakistan did not play in India reducing the contest to a triangular. However, that turn of events became a blessing in disguise for the game because at Sharjah's neutral venue both India and Pakistan, despite their political differences were able to play each other.
Thus the history of the Asia Cup proves that if all four countries are to be represented in one tournament, the most suitable venues are Sharjah and Sri Lanka, who are hosting the 1997 edition of it.
Pakistan has been the most unfortunate nation in the tournament being unsuccessful at winning and hosting.