3 reasons why India are favorites to win 2024 Women's Asia Cup
The 2024 Women's Asia Cup is set to get underway in Sri Lanka on Friday, July 19. The tournament will be played in the T20 format, keeping the upcoming 2024 Women's T20 World Cup in mind.
Defending champions India will kickstart their campaign with a clash against arch-rivals Pakistan on the opening day. The Harmanpreet Kaur-led side will also face Nepal and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) in the group stages of the competition.
The Women in Blue have won seven out of the eight titles since the tournament began in 2024. The solitary time they did not walk away with the trophy was during the 2018 edition in Malaysia, where Bangladesh recorded a thrilling last-ball win to win their first Asia Cup title.
It hardly needs to be mentioned how the Asia Cup being held in subcontinent conditions will aid the teams in their 2024 Women's T20 World Cup preparation. The ICC event is scheduled to take place in Bangladesh during the October-November window.
The Indian contingent will certainly start as early favorites to defend their title, and let us take a look at three reasons as to why that is the case.
#1 Easily the most in-form side in the competition
Team India have had a fruitful period of late across both white-ball and red-ball formats. If only the shortest format is considered, they have certainly done well enough to be a major threat and earn the tag of favorites in the Women's Asia Cup.
They began the year by losing a hard-fought T20I series against Australia at home and followed it up with a ruthless 5-0 rout against Bangladesh in the April-May window.
Another hard-fought series against South Africa at home followed, where they lost the first match by 12 runs. The Women in Blue then bounced back by bundling out the Proteas women for 84 runs in the final clash and winning by 10 wickets to level the series. Harmanpreet Kaur and company were arguably favorites to clinch the series finale after having already won the Test and ODI series, but the second T20I was washed out due to rain.
On the other hand, Pakistan women are coming into the tournament following an absolute drubbing at the hands of England away from home. The Women in Green suffered a whitewash, losing all of their matches by significant margins too.
Sri Lanka also did not fare well on home soil against the West Indies recently, losing the T20I series 1-2. They also just managed to scrape their way into the World Cup, having had to play the qualifier.
#2 A stacked spin bowling unit
Spin bowling is bound to play a huge role in Sri Lanka, and India's tweakers will have a major say in the proceedings. From all angles, whether it be experience, potency, or variation, India boasts a far superior spin bowling unit than the rest.
In Deepti Sharma and Shreyanka Patil, they have two able right-arm off-spinners, who provide balance with their batting as well. Radha Yadav and Asha Sobhana provide variety with their left-arm spin and wrist spin, respectively, and they also have been among the wickets in recent times.
Sobhana has fit well into the current setup since making her debut earlier this year, on the back of her success in the 2024 Women's Premier League.
As a bonus, the pacers are also performing quite well to complement the spinners. Pooja Vastrakar was the leading wicket-taker in the recent T20I series against South Africa, while newcomers like Arundhati Reddy have also done well. The only blip comes in the form of Renuka Singh Thakur's form. The pacer conceded 42 runs in the sole T20I she played and was wicketless in the one-off Test too.
#3 Incomparable batting prowess and depth
Team India have an all-round strong squad but their strength stems from their batting unit. Smriti Mandhana's red-hot form only illuminates the batting unit, which also comprises the likes of Shafali Verma and Harmanpreet Kaur in the top and middle order.
Jemimah Rodrigues is seemingly the new No.5 for India in the format and has adjusted to the role quite well. The likes of Sajeevan Sajana and Richa Ghosh are capable of performing the finishing task. Furthermore, with plenty of all-rounders in the mix, India have balance and depth among their ranks.