India and Pakistan will face each other at 7 pm today, the stage is set for the Women’s Asia Cup

New Delhi. The Indian women’s cricket team will take on arch-rival Pakistan in the first match of the Asia Cup on Friday. The Indian team led by Harmanpreet has dominated the Asia Cup. India has won three out of four T20 titles and all four times in the 50-over format. The Asia Cup being played in Sri Lanka is important in terms of preparations for the T20 World Cup to be held in October this year.

The Women’s Asia Cup 2024 is being played in T20 format. India has won 17 out of 20 matches in the Women’s Asia Cup T20 tournament. It defeated Bangladesh in the final in 2022. India has won 11 out of 14 matches against Pakistan in this tournament. Captain Harmanpreet Kaur’s intention will be to continue this trend. Pakistan’s morale will be low as they were defeated 3-0 by England in May.

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The best thing for India is the excellent form of Smriti Mandhana and recently the bowlers have performed well as a unit. Fast bowler Pooja Vastrakar took eight wickets in three matches against South Africa while spinner Radha Yadav has also been successful. The spinners include Deepti Sharma, Sajeevan Sajana and Shreyanka Patil.

Pakistan has retained Nida Dar as captain for the Asia Cup but a lot of changes have been made in the team. Iram Javed, Omaima Sohail and Syeda Arub Shah have got a place in the team for the first time this year. Tasmia Rubab will make her debut. Before India-Pakistan, Nepal and United Arab Emirates will face each other in Group A. The top two teams from both the groups will play the semi-finals. Nepal is playing in the tournament for the first time since 2016. This is the second consecutive tournament for UAE.

Indian Team: Harmanpreet Kaur (Captain), Smriti Mandhana, Shefali Verma, Jemimah Rodrigues, Richa Ghosh, Uma Chhetri, Pooja Vastrakar, Deepti Sharma, Arundhati Reddy, Renuka Singh, D Hemalatha, Asha Shobhana, Radha Yadav, Shreyanka Patil, Sanjeevan Sajana.

Pakistan team: Nida Dar (captain), Aliya Riaz, Diana Baig, Fatima Sana, Gul Feroza, Iram Javed, Muniba Ali, Naziha Alvi, Nashra Sandhu, Omaima Sohail, Sadia Iqbal, Sidra Amin, Syeda Arub Shah, Tasmia Rubab, Tooba Hassan.