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The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) have announced the squad for the India Women’s National Cricket Team for the upcoming Women’s Asia Cup 2026. Harmanpreet Kaur has been named the captain Smriti Mandhana as her deputy once again, for the biennial tournament. This is their first cricketing schedule after a break since they played in the one-off Test against England at Lord’s.
The tournament is set to be hosted from late August to mid-September, as the dates for the tournament are yet to be announced. The Women's Selection Committee, led by former India all-rounder Amita Sharma, announced the squad for the forthcoming tournament. They have also named four reserve players in case any cricketer gets injured ahead of the tournament or mid-tournament.
Harmanpreet Kaur once again leads India in a major tournament
The Women in Blue are the most successful team with 7 titles, as they lost to the Sri Lanka Women’s National Cricket Team in the last edition, and they won their maiden Asia Cup title in 2024, which was hosted in Sri Lanka. Kaur’s side will look to take revenge in the upcoming edition of the tournament.
Harmanpreet Kaur has been leading the side well across formats. But their recent fortunes in the T20 format have not been with them. There were also talks after the Women’s T20 World Cup 2026 that Kaur should step down as captain and someone else should take over. However, the selection committee stuck with the veteran batter to lead the side.
India's recent form in T20s
India Women's side won the ODI World Cup in 2025 at home under Kaur's captaincy. She led the side to their maiden World Cup trophy last year after several heartbreaks in the final. The side failed to perform well in the T20 World Cup in England as they were knocked out of the group stage.
In the recently concluded Women's T20 World Cup, they failed to qualify from the group stage despite having convincing wins over Pakistan, Bangladesh, and the Netherlands; they lost to Australia and South Africa in the group stage and were knocked out. This was back-to-back years that they did not qualify for the next round.
Harmanpreet Kaur's Asia Cup record
Harmanpreet Kaur has led the side to 3 Women's Asia Cup titles in her career. She won 2 of them as the team captain (in 2016 and 2022) and was also part of the victorious squad as a player/stand-in captain in 2012. She has been in the business end of her career, and before retiring, Harmanpreet Kaur would like to hand India another major title.
As she might not be in contention for playing the next ODI World Cup in 2029, as currently she is 37 years old and by the time the next 50-over World Cup arrives she will turn 41. The chances of her participating are very low.
India’s Asia Cup squad: Harmanpreet Kaur (C), Smriti Mandhana (VC), Shafali Verma, Jemimah Rodrigues, Bharti Fulmali, Deepti Sharma, Richa Ghosh (WK), G. Kamalini (WK), Arundhati Reddy, Prema Rawat, Radha Yadav, Sree Charani, Renuka Thakur, Nandni Sharma, Kranti Gaud
Reserve players: Pratika Rawal, Uma Chetry (WK), Vaishnavi Sharma, Sayali Satghare, Minnu Mani
