The Women's Asia Cup 2026 begins tomorrow, August 28, at the Dubai International Stadium, and runs through the final on September 13. Eight teams, T20 format, and a group draw that guarantees at least one India–Pakistan meeting. Here is the complete guide.
Group A: India, Pakistan, Thailand, Hong Kong China.
Group B: Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Indonesia, UAE.
The top two from each group advance to the semi-finals on September 10 and 11, with the final on September 13. Indonesia's presence is worth a pause — an Associate side earning a place at the continental table is exactly how the women's game grows.
India open against Thailand on August 30, meet Hong Kong China on September 3, and close the group against Pakistan on September 5 — the fixture the tournament schedule is built around. We have a full India vs Pakistan preview here.
Harmanpreet Kaur captains the 15-member squad, with Smriti Mandhana as vice-captain. The full list: Harmanpreet Kaur (c), Smriti Mandhana (vc), Shafali Verma, Bharti Fulmali, Deepti Sharma, Richa Ghosh (wk), Gunalan Kamalini (wk), Arundhati Reddy, Prema Rawat, Radha Yadav, Sree Charani, Renuka Singh Thakur, Nandni Sharma, Kranti Gaud, Pratika Rawal.
The shape of the squad tells its own story: an established top order of Mandhana, Shafali and Harmanpreet, Deepti Sharma as the all-round spine, Renuka Thakur leading the new ball, and a cluster of younger names — Kamalini, Kranti Gaud, Sree Charani — being given tournament exposure. India are managing succession and chasing silverware at the same time.
India remain the benchmark in this competition, but continental tournaments compress the gap between sides: one bad powerplay in a group game and a semi-final becomes a knockout. Bangladesh and Sri Lanka in Group B both have match-winners capable of punishing a flat day, and Pakistan will treat September 5 as their final.
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Schedule, groups and squad verified against official tournament announcements on August 27, 2026.
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