3 player battles to watch out for in India-Sri Lanka Women's Asia Cup 2024 final ft. Chamari Athapaththu vs Renuka Singh
India and Sri Lanka are now Asia Cup final regulars. Sunday's clash in the 2024 women's tournament is the third straight time that the nations will face each other in the final of the tournament.
And the context across three have also been similar: India speaking about World Cup preparations and being clinical in every match; Sri Lankan atmosphere revolving around transition and hope and a bit of positivity about that they deserve to be considered among the best two teams in Asia.
Naturally, there's a lot at stake. And like such big games often do, this final will also hinge on a few exciting individual battles. We have zeroed on three of them, check them out below:
#1 Chamari Athapaththu vs Renuka Singh Thakur
This is the battle with the potential to define the entire game's direction. Sri Lanka captain Chamari Athapaththu is the leading run-scorer of the tournament with 243 runs in four innings at an average of 121.50 while Renuka Singh Thakur has been India's best new ball bowler for a while now.
Athapaththu is extremely experienced and Sri Lanka's rock. When she gets out early, her team often finds itself vulnerable to opposition's pressure. But if she doesn't, she can pile up runs quickly (like she showed in the century against Malaysia) and rally her teammates around her.
Renuka is in excellent form, coming off a three-wicket haul with the new ball against Bangladesh in the semi-final. She's getting good help from the strong winds in Sri Lanka and would need to make sure she moves the ball around and builds pressure on Athapaththu with a string of dot balls.
Whether the Sri Lankan left-hander tries to take her on and push her off her lengths or play her out defensively in the powerplay would be worth watching.
#2 Udeshika Prabodhani vs Shafali Verma
While Athapaththu vs Renuka will highlight one innings, the other would be excited about who comes on top between India's opener and highest run-scorer in this Asia Cup, Shafali Verma and Sri Lanka's pace maestro, left-arm seamer Udeshika Prabodhani.
37-year-old Prabodhani is quite experienced and knows what works and what doesn't in T20Is. Shafali, on the other hand, is in the form of her career this year, scoring runs and piling up big knocks for fun.
The Indian opener has had her troubles against left-arm pace in the past and Prabodhani would have watched her clips to prepare. If Shafali still manages to come on top, it might completely deflate the hosts.
#3 Inoshi Priyadarshani vs Harmanpreet Kaur
India have been very lucky that all their batters are carrying a decent form to this final. There are no massive comcerns or issues that need to be sorted.
However, in such an environment, it'll be important for them to make the best use of the likely flat conditions and attack towards big totals/or be on the front foot while chasing. So here, if and when Shafali and Smriti Mandhana get out, Indian captain Harmanpreet Kaur would become crucial.
After an unwatchable lull a few months ago, Harman has looked close to her peak again. She looks busy, authoritative, stronger in her lofted shots and most importantly, she looks ready for a big, consistent run.
Sri Lanka can't afford any of it, knowing that she can take the game away from them quickly and would rely on the ICC fourth-ranked T20I bowler Inoshi Priyadarshani to leash her down. Priyadarshani is quite accurate with her off-spin and gets a ton of bounce which keeps even right-handers guessing.
She has picked up four wickets in four matches this tournament and would be India's biggest threat in the middle overs.