India's Women Aim to Dominate Asia Cup as T20 World Cup Preparation

India's women's cricket team, led by Harmanpreet Kaur, is gearing up for the upcoming Women's Asia Cup, which will serve as a crucial platform for their preparation for the T20 World Cup later this year. The tournament, which will be played in the T20 format this year, begins on Friday in Dambulla, Sri Lanka.

India has dominated the Women's Asia Cup since its inception in 2004, winning all seven editions (T20Is and ODIs combined). Kaur emphasized the importance of the tournament, stating that they give equal respect to both the Asia Cup and the World Cup and aim to improve at both levels.

"Our focus will remain the same as we prepare for the T20 World Cup or any other World Cup. Each and every game is important for us, and we will try to give our best," Kaur said at the captains' press conference.

The Harmanpreet-led side is the team to beat in this iteration of the Asia Cup. India is the most successful team in the Women's Asia Cup T20, with 17 wins in 20 matches. They defeated Bangladesh in the final of the last edition in 2022.

India's record against Pakistan, who they will face in their campaign opener, has also been stellar in the shortest format, with 11 wins against three defeats in 14 matches so far.

"We always enjoy playing against Pakistan, but each and every team is important. Whenever we go and play, we always want to play good cricket, and we will follow the same method," Kaur said on the eve of their opener.

Pakistan skipper Nida Dar acknowledged India's strength and expressed her team's desire to learn from their neighbors.

"We just wanted to play against India because we had some good experiences, and the way they are playing is great. Their approach in T20 is great; we have seen their approach. So this series is very important as at least we can learn from them," Dar said.

Besides India and Pakistan, other participating teams in this edition of the tournament are hosts Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Malaysia, Nepal, Thailand, and United Arab Emirates.

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