The
Women's Asia Cup
is poised for an electrifying start as defending champions India face their fierce rivals Pakistan in a highly anticipated clash on Friday.
The eight participating teams will be eager to use the tournament in order to solidify their strategies and lineups in preparation for the upcoming T20 World Cup in October.
India, led by
Harmanpreet Kaur
, are the favorites entering this edition of the Asia Cup, having emerged victorious in three out of four times the tournament was played in the T20 format and on all four occasions when it was played in the ODI version.
With an impressive record of 17 wins in 20 matches, India boast the most successful track record in the Women's Asia Cup T20. They triumphed over Bangladesh in the final of the previous edition in 2022.
Moreover, India have maintained a dominant performance against Pakistan in the shortest format, securing 11 victories and suffering only three losses in their 14 encounters thus far. Kaur's squad will rely on this impressive history and their recent strong form to secure a win in the Group A matchup.
While India are coming off a 1-1 draw against South Africa earlier this month, with the second of the three T20Is being washed out, Pakistan may be lacking in match practice and confidence.
Their last international outing was in England in May, where the hosts inflicted a 3-0 whitewash on the Pakistani side.
Smriti Mandhana
's exceptional batting form will be India's primary asset at the top of the batting order. However, the most significant improvement from their recent all-format performances has been the development of their bowling attack, with both pacers and spinners delivering impressive performances.
Pooja Vastrakar's eight wickets in three matches against South Africa highlight her current form. Moreover, the successful comeback of Radha Yadav to the spin bowling lineup has been a positive development. The spin attack also features Deepti Sharma, Sajeevan Sajana and the energetic Shreyanka Patil.
Pakistan have made substantial changes to their squad for the Asia Cup, despite keeping Nida Dar as the captain. The team has been significantly restructured following their disappointing performance in England.
Pakistan's squad for the Asia Cup has seen notable changes, despite Nida Dar being retained as the captain. Iram Javed, Omaima Sohail and Syeda Aroob Shah, who have not played any matches this year, were included along with the uncapped Tasmia Rubab, while six other players were dropped from the team.
Nepal take on UAE
Nepal and the United Arab Emirates, who are also in Group A, will compete against each other at the Rangiri Dambulla International Stadium earlier on the same day.
The semifinals will feature the top two teams from each group.
UAE are entering their second straight appearance and will be riding high after winning more than half of their matches this year, while Nepal are making their first appearance since 2016.
Nepal's lack of recent playing time will be a worry, as their last match was a loss to Malaysia in the Asian Cricket Council's Women's Premier Cup in mid-February.
In May, UAE were last seen in action when they were defeated by Sri Lanka in the T20 World Cup Qualifier semifinal.
(With PTI inputs)
English (US) ·