On Friday, July 6, the BCCI (Board of Control for Cricket in India) released the women's Asia Cup 2024 team. Of the 17 players participating in the series against South Africa, the selection committee has decided to keep 15 of them, leaving out Amanjot Kaur and Shabnam Shakil.
Shakil, who has not yet made her debut for the national side, was a late addition to the team for all three forms in order to strengthen the seam assault. However, Kaur, an all-rounder, did not appear in any of the tour's games.
With Smriti Mandhana serving as her deputy and Harmanpreet Kaur leading the team, the remainder of the roster is made up of all-time favourites. In addition to the 15-person team, travelling reserves Shweta Sehrawat, Saika Ishaque, Tanuja Kanwer, and Meghna Singh have been picked by the selection committee. The ninth women's Asia Cup will be place in Sri Lanka starting on July 19 and culminate in a tournament final on July 28.
Eight teams altogether, split into two groups, will be visible competing in the tournament. 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.
On July 19, the UAE and Nepal will play the first game of the tournament at the Rangiri Dambulla International Stadium in Dambulla. Later that day, India will play their inaugural match versus archrival Pakistan at the same stadium.
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The T20 version of the 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. Notably, the Women in Blue are the event's reigning winners, having taken home the title in the 2022 edition of the competition. With seven victories from the eight tournaments played so far, India is also the most dominant team. Bangladesh is the only other champion from 2018.
Squad: Harmanpreet Kaur (c), Smriti Mandhana (vc), Deepti Sharma, Asha Sobhana, Dayalan Hemalatha, Shafali Verma, Jemimah Rodrigues, Uma Chetry (wk), Shreyanka Patil, Radha Yadav, Sajana Sajeevan, Pooja Vastrakar, Richa Ghosh (wk), Arundhati Reddy, Renuka Singh Thakur
Traveling reserves: Tanuja Kanwer, Shweta Sehrawat, Saika Ishaque, Meghna Singh
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