The forthcoming women’s T20 Asia Cup will take place in Sri Lanka starting on Friday, July 19, and admission is free for spectators, according to Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC). The Island edition will notably host the ninth edition of the continental event, with all 15 games scheduled to take place at the Rangiri Dambulla International Stadium in Dambulla.
Eight teams—Sri Lanka, India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, UAE, Nepal, Malaysia, and Thailand—will be competing in the competition. The board hopes to hold a successful event that would help elevate women’s cricket on the international scene, according to Mr. Ravin Wickramaratne, vice president of Sri Lanka Cricket.
“Sri Lanka Cricket, with the support of the Asian Cricket Council, is planning to conduct a highly successful tournament, as a successful outcome of this tournament will help advance women’s cricket on the world stage,’ said Ravin Wickramaratne.
For the tournament, the eight competing teams have been split into two groups. India is in Group A with Nepal, Pakistan, and the United Arab Emirates. Group B, on the other side, consists of Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Thailand, and Malaysia.
India to start campaign against Pakistan
There will be 15 matches in the event, with the championship match scheduled on July 28. On July 19, the UAE and Nepal will play the first game of the tournament at Dambulla. Later that day, India will launch their campaign against Pakistan, their bitter rivals, at the same location. The T20 formatted continental competition will act as a practice for the women’s T20 World Cup, which is slated to begin in Bangladesh on October 3 of this year.
India is the event’s defending champion, having taken home the trophy in the 2022 edition. With seven victories from the eight tournaments played so far, the Women in Blue are also the most dominant team. Bangladesh was the only other team to win in 2018.
The majority of the players from the recently finished T20I series against South Africa were included in the team that the BCCI published a few days ago, leaving
