Harmanpreet Kaur expects a competitive Asia Cup with rapid improvements in Asian teams

India captain Harmanpreet Kaur expects a tough Women’s Asia Cup T20, Asian teams are improving all the time, India are refusing to focus on one opponent and instead focus on good cricket.

The Asian Cup is played by India, Pakistan, defending champions Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, hosts UAE, Thailand, Hong Kong, China and Indonesia.

India, the ODI world champions, enter the tournament as one of the favourites. But Harmanpreet played down the attention surrounding their much-anticipated clash with Pakistan on September 5, insisting her team will not let external factors distract them.

“We are not focusing on one particular team, which will be difficult for us. All the teams have done well and our aim is to play good cricket and not take any team easy,” Harmanpreet told the captains’ press conference ahead of the tournament, which begins here on Friday.

“Our main focus is just to play cricket apart from focusing on the other impact of the game.

Harmanpreet did not respond when asked if she would shake hands with her Pakistani counterpart Fatima Sana.

The India captain said the Asia Cup will give her team an opportunity to test themselves under pressure and build on the experience gained from the last matches.

“The Asia Cup is a platform where you can really test yourself and put yourself under a lot of pressure to perform at the level you expect a lot from your team,” Harmanpreet said.

“This tournament is very important for us as a team to do well. Especially all the teams, they’re the ones we’ve seen massive improvement in the last two or three years. And whenever we play them, they don’t give us anything easy.”

“It will be very challenging, but at the same time our experience will help us.”

India have had a disappointing campaign in the T20 World Cup, but Harmanpreet believes the experience from their previous matches will stand them in good stead.

“All the experience we have gained from the past matches will help us and hopefully we will play our best cricket and enjoy our cricket here,” she said.

India arrived in Dubai on Wednesday and are yet to see the field. Harmanpreet said the team will use Friday’s practice and matches ahead of the opening match to assess the conditions before finalizing their combination.

“We just arrived yesterday (Wednesday) and we haven’t seen the pitch yet. But tomorrow (Friday) when we train, it’s good to have two teams playing in front of us. So we’ll see a lot of things and then understand what the conditions will be like. And then we’ll make a plan accordingly,” she said.

Harmanpreet also welcomed the prospect of packed stands during the tournament and recalled the strong support for India’s women’s clash against Pakistan in Dubai in 2024.

“As a cricketer we always want to see packed stadiums. The fans come and support us. Hopefully this Asia Cup we will have the same packed stadiums,” she said.

Harmanpreet also backed the Indian team after former captain Anjum Chopra raised questions about the selection.

“I don’t know what you are talking about but I think we have picked the best team and they have performed very impressively. That is why they are here. I am sure that whenever we go on the field we will play our best cricket,” she said.

PAKISTAN READY FOR INDIA CLASH

Pakistan captain Fatima Sana said her team wants to play fearless cricket and enjoy the much-awaited clash with India on September 5.

Sana, who became the first Pakistani woman to play in The Hundred for Birmingham Phoenix, said the nature of T20 cricket meant the better team on the day would win.

“We just want to enjoy the match against India on September 5. T20 cricket is such that whoever plays better on that day wins,” Sana said.

“Whenever we play in Dubai, we are used to the conditions. We have players who can do it in these conditions. We also have good batsmen, hopefully they will express themselves.”

UAE captain Esha Oza said her team will focus on enjoying the tournament and putting its preparation into action.

“It’s about enjoying what you’re doing, it’s not about trying to prove something to somebody. We’ve been training hard and it’s about implementing those things,” Oza said.

– The end

Issued by:

Saurabh Kumar

Published on:

27 Aug 2026 22:36 IST