India Meet Pakistan at the Women's Asia Cup, and India's Year Has Been Difficult
The most-watched fixture in women's cricket comes in the group stage. India arrive as seven-time champions having lost nine of sixteen Twenty20 internationals in 2026.
India play Pakistan at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium today, in the group stage of the Women's Asia Cup rather than a knockout, which means both sides arrive having already played.
The records do not match the form
India are comfortably the most successful side in this tournament's history: seven titles from nine editions, in 2004, 2005-06, 2006, 2008, 2012, 2016 and 2022.
Their 2026 has been harder than that suggests. India have lost nine of their sixteen Twenty20 internationals this year, most recently to Australia at the Women's T20 World Cup. Harmanpreet Kaur captains, with Smriti Mandhana as vice-captain.
A seven-time champion losing more than half its matches in a calendar year is the sort of contradiction that makes a group fixture worth watching. The trophy cabinet is a record of a decade. The results are a record of this season.
What a good score looks like here
Our own records of women's Twenty20 international cricket say something specific about this fixture, and it is not what a viewer used to the men's game would expect.
Matches between the four Asian full members in this tournament, India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh, produce an average completed innings of 117.6 runs in our data. The equivalent figure across all full-member women's T20 cricket, which brings in Australia and England, is 133.1.
So a first-innings total near 117 in this fixture is par rather than poor, and anything approaching 133 is a strong score. Dubai in September, on a square hosting an entire tournament, pushes in the same direction. We set the full working out in our Asia Cup par score piece.
The tournament so far
Sri Lanka, the defending champions, opened Group B by dismissing the United Arab Emirates for 79 and chasing it in 7.5 overs, with Chamari Athapaththu 48 not out. In Group A, Thailand beat Hong Kong China by 6 runs, defending 120 for 9, with Marina Lamplough taking four for 11 on the losing side.
Sri Lanka are trying to become the first Sri Lankan side to defend this title, having won their first in 2024 by beating India in the final.
The shape from here
The group stage runs through the first week of September, with semi-finals on 10 and 11 September and the final on 13 September. Every match is at the same ground, and every match starts at 20:00 Indian time.
Because both semi-finals are between group winners and runners-up from opposite groups, an India v Sri Lanka rematch of the 2024 final cannot happen before the semis.