Schedule for Women's Asia Cup 2022 announced; India play Sri Lanka on opening day
The Asian Cricket Council (ACC) announced the schedule for the Women's Asia Cup 2022 on Tuesday, September 20. The tournament will take place at the Sylhet International Cricket Stadium in Bangladesh, starting October 1. The final will be played on October 15.
Bangladesh are the defending champions after their thrilling win over India in the Women's Asia Cup 2018 final. This edition of the event was to be held in Bangladesh in 2020 but was postponed due to the COVID outbreak, before eventually being canceled in 2021.
The upcoming continental tournament will feature seven teams. The tournament, apart from hosts Bangladesh, will also feature India, Sri Lanka, UAE, Pakistan, Thailand, and Malaysia.
The seven teams will compete in a round-robin format, as was the case in the World Cup earlier this year. The two semi-finals will be played on October 13, with the final set for October 15.
The hosts will lock horns with Thailand in the first game of the tournament before India take centerstage in their opening clash against Sri Lanka.
Team India are yet to annouce their squad for the Women's Asia Cup 2022
The Indian women's team are currently playing a three-match away ODI series against England. After losing the three-match T20I series 2-1, the visitors fought back hard in the first ODI to take a 1-0 lead in what is veteran pacer Jhulan Goswami's farewell series.
Harmanpreet Kaur is expected to continue leading the side for the upcoming Asia Cup. India will also be hoping that Jemimah Rodrigues recovers from her wrist injury in time to make a comeback to the squad.
The six-time champions will kick off their campaign against Sri Lanka on October 1. They will play against Malaysia and UAE on successive days (October 3 and 4) before taking on Afghanistan.
India then face Bangladesh on October 8 before wrapping up their group stage campaign against Thailand on October 10.