India have put their faith in a tried and tested squad to defend their Women’s Asia Cup title. All the players named were part of the 17-member squad for the ongoing T20I series against South Africa, with Amanjot Kaur and Shabnam Shakil absent.
Shweta Sehrawat, Saika Ishaque, Tanuja Kanwar, and Meghna Singh were selected as reserves when India travel to Sri Lanka, the team they beat in 2022 and the team that will host the tournament.
India’s first match of the Asia Cup will be against Pakistan on July 19. They will face UAE and Nepal in the group stage with a view to enter the knockout stage. Dambulla will host all 15 matches of the tournament including semi-finals and finals.
India currently host South Africa on a mixed tour and are trailing 0-1 in the T20I series after sweeping the ODI series 3-0 and winning the one Test. The Asia Cup will prepare them ahead of the T20 World Cup in Bangladesh in September and October.
Indian team: Harmanpreet Kaur (Capt), Smriti Mandhana (vice-capt), Shafali Verma, Deepti Sharma, Jemimah Rodrigues, Richa Ghosh (wk), Uma Chetry (wk), Pooja Vastrakar, Arundhati Reddy, Renuka Singh, D Hemalatha, Asha Sobhana , Radha Yadav, Shreyanka Patil, Sajeevan Sajana
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