Nisshin, Sep 18 (IANS) India women will face Bangladesh in the second semifinal of the Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games 2026 at the Korogi Sports Park on Sunday as they look to defend their gold medal from the 2023 Hangzhou Games.
Harmanpreet Kaur’s Women in Blue brushed aside hosts Japan in a lopsided affair in the quarterfinal to march into the semifinals of the tournament for the second straight time in as many tournament appearances.
The Women in Blue are favourites to defend their gold medal that they won after beating Sri Lanka in the 2023 Asiad final in what is a similar look to the semifinals, as it was in the previous edition.
Just like in the 2023 Asian Games, India will meet Bangladesh in one of the two semifinals, while Sri Lanka will lock horns against Pakistan in the other last-four encounter.
The Women in Blue are fresh from winning an eighth Asia Cup title a few days ago, while Bangladesh lost to the Indian juggernaut in the semifinal of that Asia Cup in Dubai.
Indian players are in great form heading into the semifinal, with the likes of Shafali Verma and Smriti Mandhana leading the show with the bat. The bowling unit matches foot to foot with the batters. Sree Charani is in the form of her life after picking two consecutive four-wicket hauls, with the second coming in the quarterfinal against Japan and is currently the World No.1 T20I bowler.
Deepti Sharma continues to show her worth in both departments, while fast bowler Nandani Sharma has also been impressive. India have also been bolstered by the return of leg-spinner Shreyanka Patil, who picked one wicket during the quarterfinal after making a return from an injury layoff.
The Women in Blue will want more from their middle order, which is a bit untested in recent times after the top order has been doing the heavy lifting in the Asia Cup.
Meanwhile, Bangladesh are coming into the semifinal without any game time in Nisshin. Their quarterfinal against China was washed out, and they progressed through due to being the superior-ranked team of the two.
Nigar Sultana, who is reportedly set to step down from T20I captaincy, will be looking eager for a major upset in the semifinal, but they will know that they are coming up against a very strong Indian side.
The Bangladeshi side has defeated the Women in Blue only thrice in the 25 meetings and have often been found wanting in the batting department. They have shown decent outings with the ball, but it is their batters who have not been able to post competitive totals, not only against India, but against several other big teams.
–IANS
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