Indian skipper Kaur justifies selection, UAE’s Isha excited ahead of Asia Cup

In response to Anjum Chopra’s comment over the selection of Indian women's cricket team for the Asia Cup, skipper Harmanpreet Kaur came in the defence of her team.

Kaur, who guided Indian women to the ODI World Cup glory, in November 2025. They defeated South Africa at home turf to claim the title.

“We have picked the best squad available for the selection. All of them have given a very impressive performance and that is why they are in the team,” said Kaur.

Former captain Anjum had raised doubt over the selection of Pratika Rawal in the squad. Pratika was drafted as a replacement for Jemimah Rodrigues, who sustained a high-grade right hamstring tear while playing for Southern Brave in The Hundred.

Apart from this being Pratika’s maiden T20I call-up, she has not played a T20 game since the Challenger Trophy in November 2024, where she scored 142 runs at a strike rate of 111.81.

For the Asia Cup, Pratika, who didn’t play WPL 2026 for UP Warriorz due to an ankle injury sustained during the 2025 ODI World Cup, was selected ahead of Anushka Sharma and Harleen Deol, who had previously been part of the T20I side.

The bigger issue for Anjum is also whether an untested, injury-returning player like Pratika should be thrown straight into the playing eleven. Pratika sustained lacerations while fielding in an India ‘A’ 50-over game against England ‘A’ and missed the historic one-off Test at Lord’s in July.

India will look to claim the trophy to finish the unfinished business as the seven-time winners suffered defeat in the 2024 edition final to eventual champions Sri Lanka in Dambulla.

Kaur also said they are confident of winning the title. The Harmanpreet Kaur-led side will begin their Group A campaign on Aug.30 against Thailand, and will later take on Hong Kong China and arch-rivals Pakistan respectively.

“We have a strong team and we have played a lot of cricket here before so I am pretty much confident that we will lift the trophy,” said the Indian skipper.

“We have played some excellent cricket in the 4-5 years and we are coming into the tournament on the back of a win at Lord’s. So there is a positive vibe in the dressing room as everyone is talking about winning the matches,” she informed.

Seasoned all-rounder Esha Oza will lead the 15-member UAE squad in the eight-team DP World Women’s Asia Cup. UAE are placed in Group B with Bangladesh, Indonesia and Sri Lanka the other three teams in the group.

UAE take on Sri Lanka in their tournament opener on Aug.29. They next play Indonesia on Sept.4 while their third group match will be against Bangladesh –Sept.8.

Isha expressed confidence in her team and promised to give their best in the tournament. Isha, who has played most of her cricket in the UAE, thinks their familiarity with the conditions will be helpful to some extent.

“We are excited with the prospect of playing with the big teams like India and Pakistan. We have played a lot of cricket in the UAE and know the conditions pretty well.

“The prospect of playing in the Asia Cup on the home ground is very exciting. We are not thinking about the pressure of playing at home, rather we are excited and looking forward to getting our campaign under way,” said Isha.

“I am happy with the squad. We have a very balanced team. Girls know their responsibilities. Playing against the big teams like India and Pakistan will be a great learning curve,” she added.

Pakistan captain Fatima Sana said that they are confident of breaking the Asia Cup jinx. Pakistan women have never won Asia Cup title. Their best performance is reaching the final in 2012 and 2016. On both the occasions, they lost to archrivals India.

“We are confident of ending the jinx and winning our first continental title. Of late, we have been playing some good cricket and hope carry the momentum into the Asia Cup.

Talking about the India-Pakistan match, which will be played on Sept.5, Sana accepted it is a high-pressure game but vowed to take it like any other match.

“It is always a high pressure game but we don’t take any match lightly. If you have to win a tournament, you should try to maintain the winning momentum from the beginning. All the matches are equally important,” she said.