India primed for sixth Women's Asia Cup title in Bangkok
ACC Women's Asia Cup is ready to roll out its sixth edition as six of the finest teams in the Asian belt prepare to battle each other in Bangkok, starting Saturday(November 26).
First played in 2004, and staged four successive times as a 50-overs competition, the format of the Women's Asia Cup was tweaked to T20 in the last edition, in 2012, in a bid to promote women's cricket in the region through the highly-popular format and get more participants in the ring.
In the same vein, the host of the tournament is also one of the upcoming Asian countries, rather than the big-four - India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh. The 2012 edition in China saw as many as eight participants but a familiar winner - India.
One of the stronger teams in the competition, India hold a cent per cent record in the five finals thus far and would be gunning to add a sixth trophy to their cabinet. But they will face stiff competition from both Pakistan and Sri Lanka. Bangladesh's recent form and lack of sufficient game time goes against them while the regional qualifiers, Thailand and Nepal, are too young in the business to pose a serious threat for the other formidable Asian opponents.
Interestingly enough, each of the top-four sides has a new captain at the helm, instead of the women who led the charge in the 2016 T20 WC in March-April.
TEAMS
India
Five-time champions India landed in the city on the eve of their opening game against Bangladesh, on the back of 0-3 defeat against the West Indies at home earlier this week. The whitewash, at the hands of the reigning World Champions, exposed the chinks in their armour and the Asian giants have hardly had a break before embarking on the next assignment. Nonetheless, the match time back home should hold them in good stead. That their batters Harmanpreet Kaur and Veda Krishnamurthy have scored heavily in the preceding series is an added bonus. Mithali Raj, who missed out on the home series against West Indies due to illness, is expected to be back.
The team has a good mix of experience and youth. Harmanpreet, who led the team to their 18-run victory over arch-rivals Pakistan in the title clash in 2012 edition, was named as the captain of the team ahead of the start of the new international season. While the team boasts of years of rich international experience - with players like Raj and Jhulan Goswami in its ranks, there are as many as six new faces as the management prepares to build a strong pool of players with an eye on future.
Squad: Harmanpreet Kaur (Captain), Ekta Bisht, Jhulan Goswami, Mansi Joshi, Veda Krishnamurthy, Smriti Mandhana, Meghna Singh, Shikha Pandey, Anuja Patil, Poonam Yadav, Nuzhat Parween, Preeti Bose, Mithali Raj, Vellaswamy Vanitha, Sushma Verma.
Pakistan
Pakistan's best show in the Asia Cup championship has been their final appearance in the 2012 edition where they lost to arch-rivals India. In the 2016 T20 WC, however, they edged out India by a narrow two-run margin in a rain-affected low-scoring contest in Delhi. It goes without saying that Pakistan are the strongest contenders to upset India's long and successful run at Asia Cup.
Pakistan, in fact, are a team who enjoy the benefit of staying in touch with the format in the lead up to this tournament. They haven't tasted much success though. On their tour to England, Pakistan were brushed aside 3-0 by the home team, before a batting collapse saw them losing their only T20I in New Zeaalnd by a 14-run margin. But these are still early days for the new captain Bisma Maroof. The 25-year-old took over the reigns from the experienced Sana Mir, who stepped down after Pakistan's first-round exit from the recent T20 WC.
Squad: Bismah Maroof (Captain), Javeria Khan, Aliya Riaz, Anam Amin, Asmavia Iqbal, Ayesha Zafar, Diana Baig, Iram Javed, Maham Tariq, Nahida Khan, Nain Abidi, Nida Dar, Sadia Yousuf, Sana Mir, Sidra Nawaz.
Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka finished as the second-best team in the first four editions of the Asia Cup, but a poor run in the ODIs recently meant they were the first ones to be eliminated from the top-four race for an automatic qualification to the 50-over World Cup next year. In T20Is too, their form hasn't been any better. The one-off T20I against Australia, in the lead up to the Asia Cup, turned out to be a one-sided contest with the Australians polishing off the 60-run challenge with ten wickets and nearly 12 overs to spare. The inconsistency in their on-field performance has seen frequent chopping and changing of squads in the recent times, with captaincy changing hands thrice. The absence of their regular skipper Shashikala Siriwardena, who is yet to make a comeback after picking up an injury in the T20 WC earlier this year, has hit the team hardest. On the flipside though, the islanders have enjoyed reasonable success against both India and Pakistan in the past and would be looking to repeat their heroics.
Squad: Hasini Perera (Captain), Prasadani Weerakkody, Chamari Atapattu, Sripali Weerakkody, Sugandika Kumari, Dilani Manodara, Nilakshi de Silva, Nipuni Hansika, Inoka Ranaweera, Oshadi Ranasinghe, Eshani Lokusuriyage, Yasoda Mendis, Hansima Karunaratne, Ama Kanchana, Udeshika Prabodhani,
Bangladesh
Bangladesh have fond memories associated with their last trip to Bangkok, in December 2015 - when they earned their ticket to the main round of the 2016 T20 WC by the virtue of their four victories in the qualifiers. However, their recent form is a concern. They conceded the two-match T20I series 1-0 on their trip to Ireland, in the lead up to the event, which then saw the captaincy being awarded to Rumana Ahmed. While the second game had to be abandoned without a ball being bowled, Bangladesh's failure to chase down a modest 55-run target, highlighted the fragility of their batting order.
Squad: Jahanara Alam, Rumana Ahmed (Captain), Panna Ghosh, Nahida Akter, Nigar Sultana, Suraiya Azmin, Fargana Hoque, Sanjida Islam, Khadija Tul Kubra, Salma Khatun, Fahima Khatun, Ritu Moni, Shaila Sharmin, Ayasha Rahman, Sharmin Sultana.
Thailand
Thailand are a team on the rise. One of the leaders in the ACC circuit, the hosts made it to the Women's T20 WC Qualifier twice in succession - in both 2013 and 2015 - by winning both the 20-over and the 40-over competitions respectively. With their title win in the recently-concluded ICC Asia World Cup Qualifier, held in Hong Kong in October, Thailand helped themselves to the 50-over World Cup qualifying event, to be held in Sri Lanka in February 2017. While the 50-over contest ahead may be too tough a challenge for the young side, the Asia Cup would be an opportunity for them to gain exposure against the mainstream teams.
Squad: Sornnarin Tippoch (Captain), Nattaya Boochatham, Rattana Sangsoma, Naruemol Chaiwai, Suleeporn Laomi, Nattakan Chantam, Sirintra Saengsakaorat, Chanida Sutthiruang, Sainammin Saenya, Soraya Lateh, Wongpaka Liengprasert, Nannapat Khoncharoenkai, Ratanaporn Padunglerd
Nepal
Nepal narrowly missed out to Thailand in both the 20-over and 40-over finale, but nevertheless booked their ticket to Bangkok again by finishing as runners-up in Hong Kong. As is the case with Thailand, Nepal would be looking for experience before they take on the giants in the ten-team 50-over qualifying event for the 2017 World Cup to be held in England.
Squad: Rubina Chhetry Belbashi, Jyoti Pandey, Kajal Shrestha, Karuna Bhandari, Nary Thapa, Neera Rajopadhyay, Rashmi Chaulagain, Bohara Roshani, Sabnam Rai, Saraswati Kumari, Sarita Magar, Sita Rana Magar.
TOURNAMENT FORMAT
Unlike the eight teams that were divided into two different groups in 2012, the latest version is going to see another overhaul in the format. Six teams will play each other once over the course of next eight days. The two teams with maximum points at the end of the round-robin league will fight it out for the title in the finale on December 4.
However, the games involving either of the two qualifiers - Thailand or Nepal - as one of the two teams would not be considered as Twenty20 Internationals.
VENUE
The venue for all league games was changed to the Asian Institute of Technology Ground, from the Terdthai Cricket Ground that serves as the home of the Thailand cricket team, hoping that the action will draw a larger and a young audience towards the sport. The AIT Ground is inside the college campus that boasts mainly of students from Asian countries, on the outskirts of Bangkok.
How the wicket at the AIT Cricket Ground will play out is anybody's guess at the moment, but if the teams' practice sessions are anything to go by, the pitch is likely to be on the slower side.
India primed for sixth Women's Asia Cup title in Bangkok - Cricbuzz
