The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) announced the squad for the upcoming Women’s Asia Cup 2024 on Friday, July 6. The selection committee retained 15 out of the 17 players currently playing in the series against South Africa, excluding Amanjot Kaur and Shabnam Shakil.
Harmanpreet Kaur will lead the Indian team, with Smriti Mandhana as her deputy. The squad features familiar names such as Shafali Verma, Deepti Sharma, Jemimah Rodrigues, and Richa Ghosh. The ninth edition of the Women’s Asia Cup will commence on July 19 in Sri Lanka, with the final scheduled for July 28.
The tournament will feature eight teams divided into two groups. India is placed in Group A alongside Pakistan, UAE, and Nepal. Group B comprises Malaysia, Thailand, Bangladesh, and Sri Lanka. The tournament’s opening match will see the UAE facing Nepal on July 19 at the Rangiri Dambulla International Stadium in Dambulla. Later that day, India will start their campaign against arch-rivals Pakistan at the same venue.
The Women’s Asia Cup will be played in the T20 format and will serve as a preparatory event for the Women’s T20 World Cup, which is set to take place later this year in Bangladesh from October 3. The Indian team, known as the Women in Blue, are the defending champions of the Asia Cup, having won the previous edition in 2022. India has been the most dominant team in the tournament’s history, winning seven of the eight editions held. Bangladesh is the only other team to have won the Asia Cup, achieving the feat in 2018.
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