Seven-time champions India will start as overwhelming favourites in the women’s Asia Cup when the Harmanpreet Kaur-led outfit begins their campaign against arch-rivals Pakistan at Dambulla on Friday, with all the eight participating teams hoping to firm up their combinations ahead of the T20 World Cup in October.

The Indian team has been a dominant force in the competition that initially started two decades back with India and Sri Lanka as the only participants before gradually expanding to an eight-team affair in the current version. It was all India winning the tournament till 2016 before Bangladesh shocked the then six-time champions for a maiden title in the 2018 edition held in Malaysia.

Returning after the pandemic break, the 2022 edition witnessed India laying their hands on the trophy for a record seventh time after beating Bangladesh. Additionally, India is also the most successful team in the Women’s Asia Cup T20 with 17 wins in 20 matches.

India are coming into the tournament on the back of a drawn 1-1 T20I series against South Africa at home and a 5-0 win against Bangladesh in Sylhet. The two series have given the defending champions several positives: their vice-captain Smriti Mandhana is in red-hot form, their spin department looks sorted and Pooja Vastrakar has stepped up as the pace-bowling spearhead. Radha Yadav’s successful return to the mix of spinners has been encouraging. The spin attack also includes Deepti Sharma, Sajeevan Sajana and the sprightly Shreyanka Patil.

Coming to India’s record against Pakistan, the Women-in-Blue have been dominant in the shortest format with 11 wins against three defeats in 14 matches so far and Kaur’s team can take the positives from the record besides banking on their rich vein in form to clinch the Group A clash in Dambulla.

On the other hand, Pakistan have failed to maintain a consistent run ever since Nida Dar took over the captaincy after Bismah Mahroof quit the role in 2023. They have managed to win only seven of the 19 T20Is played since April 2023.

Pakistan completed their first T20I series sweep against South Africa last September but lost 2-1 to Bangladesh next. During the tour of New Zealand last December, Pakistan enjoyed a 2-1 series win but after that lost seven of eight matches this year, which included a 1-4 defeat to the West Indies in Karachi and a 0-3 loss in England.

The loss of momentum could be primarily due to the inconsistent show with the bat, resulting in wholesale changes in the squad for the Asia Cup. While they have retained Nida, and the rest of the mainstays in Sidra Amin and Muneeba Ali – their top two run-getters this year, the Pakistan side recalled the trio of Iram Javed, Omaima Sohail, Syeda Aroob Shah, who have not played any matches so far this year. The uncapped Tasmia Rubab was the surprise inclusion in the squad, which saw six regulars being dropped.

Apart from India and Pakistan, the tournament will see participation from hosts Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, and four other Associates — Thailand, Malaysia, UAE and Nepal. The four associates were the semifinalists of the ACC Premier Cup in which 16 Associate teams battled for entry into the Asia Cup main round.