✍️ Rohit Singh

🗓️ July 24, 2024

Lights are on, and the 2024 T20 Women’s Asia Cup is here. Team India has headed to Dambulla, Sri Lanka, for their tournament journey. The tournament will see the participation of eight teams from the subcontinent, with India being the most successful one. Team India, with seven titles in their bucket, are the defending champions of the 2022 edition, having clinched the final by defeating Sri Lanka with nine wickets in hand.

Team India is ready with their 15-women roster headed by Harmanpreet Kaur, with Smriti Mandhana as the deputy. 

Eight teams are bifurcated into two groups of four. While India is placed in Group A alongside Pakistan, UAE, and Nepal, hosts Sri Lanka are in Group B with Bangladesh, Thailand, and Malaysia. 

This will be the ninth edition of the Womens’ Asia Cup which is set to begin on July 19, with UAE and Nepal playing the tournament opener. The semi finals are scheduled on July 26, where top two teams from both the sides will clash for their position in the finals title clash on July 28. 

This Asia Cup would be a warm-up for the teams to find their tune and get ready for the big thing coming i.e., the ICC T20 Women’s World Cup that is scheduled from October 3 to October 30 in Bangladesh, where team India will aim to end their major ICC trophy drought.

Team India’s 2024 Women’s Asia Cup Match Schedule?

On July 19, the women in blue whipped their fierce rivals, Pakistan in the first match of the competition thanks to an 85-run opening partnership between the openers Smriti Mandhana and Shafali Verma who chased the total of 109 runs with 35 balls to spare. The bowling attack was equally applauded, with All-rounder Deepti Sharma scalping three-wickets, while Shreyanka Patil (2/14) and Renuka Singh (2/14) were the most economical bowlers. Now, the world no. 3 India will play the 1st semi-finals on the 26th of July.

Top Contenders to win the 2024 Women’s Asia Cup?

Team India are yet again the favorites to win the title, why not as we look back at the history, seven out of eight titles are clinched by them, ninth in process. Ever since the tournament format switched to 20 overs, team India has dropped a game only thrice, two upsets against Bangladesh in 2018 and one against Pakistan in 2022. 

This time, team India’s preparation seems more tough, they are coming off a 5-0 win against Bangladesh and tying the series 1-1 against South Africa at home. 

The most successful team behind India is Sri Lanka, who have been runners-up five times. The hosts have had a phenomenal year so far, winning 9 out of 12 T20Is, including a 2-1 upset against South Africa, and were also unbeatable in the T20 World Cup qualifiers. 

Another team in the list is Pakistan, who have been finalists twice. They are brimming with confidence behind captain Nida Dar and co- Nigar Sultana and are expected to take a long run, atleast to the semifinals.

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