Asian Games: We will have this gold medal with us forever, says Harmanpreet

admin — Tue, 22 Sep 2026 14:00:00 +0000

India’s captain Harmanpreet Kaur poses for photographs with Gold medal after winning the women’s final T20I cricket match between India and Sri Lanka in the ongoing Asian Games 2026, in Nagoya, Japan on September 22, 2026.
| Photo Credit: PTI

Harmanpreet Kaur has done what no one else can claim to have done, or may do for a while — be the captain of an Asian Games-winning cricket team twice in a row. And she has the medals to prove it.

Firm favourite to defend its title at the Korogi Athletics Park even before the team landed in Tokyo, and coming after the high of clinching the Asia Cup, the gulf between the Women in Blue and the rest was far too wide.

But even the Indians would not have expected the kind of domination they managed in the final, packing off Sri Lanka for a 147-run victory.

“As cricketers, we always wanted to be a part of the Asian Games or Commonwealth Games or Olympics, because otherwise we only play cricket tournaments or bilateral series. We did not know the value of what a medal actually means; we had no experience of that, but we are grateful to have the opportunity to experience this.

“We are lucky to have done it twice now because the cricketers before us did not have this. Now we can also frame two medals back home because when we win a trophy, it feels good but it goes to the BCCI office. This is something we will have with us forever… this is ours,” Harmanpreet said on Tuesday.

That the team’s gold was also the first for India at the ongoing Games only made it extra special.

“Since we came here, our aim was to win gold and see the national flag high… [we] talked about the national anthem playing. But we didn’t know we would be the first to experience it here. We are just lucky and grateful for this because there were other athletes over the past two days who could have done it and came close. But I am sure that we have opened the golden gates. There will be many more [gold medals] coming through for India from all the different sports. We will be rooting for them,” she declared.

Shreyanka Patil, returning from an ankle injury that kept her out of the Asia Cup, was elated to be back playing.

“It’s very hard when you have back-to-back injuries and then you’re out for a while and come back. If you stay positive and keep telling you can do it, anything is possible. When I was out there, I was full of happiness and I just couldn’t express it. I was all around jumping, roaming, talking, everyone was like, ‘O, Shrey is back,’”she laughed.

“It’s my first time holding a gold medal… so I’m really grateful and happy. The whole campaign was good for us. We’ve done really well with the ball and the bat. But most of all, I’m just happy to be back on the field,” she added.

Smriti Mandhana, whose 45-ball 79 laid the foundation for India’s success, was more measured in her reaction, her ambitions clearly much bigger than continental domination.

“I feel everyone played really good cricket. Having said that, we all have to look forward and work on ourselves and keep getting better. We have to keep playing good cricket against better opposition. We can’t dwell on this win a lot, we have to see what we can do for the next 1.5-2 years to get in the best place to win an Olympic medal,” she declared.

Published – September 22, 2026 07:27 pm IST

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Women’s T20 Asia Cup final: India eye record-extending eighth title win against gritty Sri Lanka

admin — Sat, 12 Sep 2026 21:45:00 +0000

Seven-time champions India will look to Shafali Verma and Deepti Sharma to deliver once again when they take on a resilient Sri Lanka in the Women’s T20 Asia Cup final in Dubai on Sunday (September 13, 2026).

With 168 runs including two fifties, Shafali has not only been India’s best batter but also the leading run-scorer in this iteration of the continental event, going about her task unfazed by the slow and spin-friendly nature of the wickets here at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium.

Even as Smriti Mandhana (154) has blown hot and cold for having struck a brilliant century but also two single-digit scores, Shafali has been able to maintain consistency with the bat.

More importantly, Shafali has relatively executed her strokes with ease in games where others around her have struggled.

Deepti, the tournament’s leading wicket-taker alongside Sri Lanka skipper Chamari Athapaththu with 11 wickets each, has been at the forefront of India’s bowling attack. Even with the bat, the senior Indian all-rounder has been a key presence. Her six-ball 13 against Bangladesh in the semifinal was instrumental in pushing the total close to the 150-mark.

With the parsimonious Shree Charani in the mix and Prema Rawat also finding her rhythm, Deepti leads the all-important spin attack which has played a dominant role in several matches of this tournament.

While both teams have wind in their sails having gone undefeated so far in their march to the final, India will be wary of the gritty Sri Lanka side which had handed them a crushing eight-wicket defeat in the last edition’s final in 2024.

Athapaththu’s side has displayed the same determination that their skipper has shown throughout her chequered career, with the most recent example being their perseverance to secure a win over Pakistan against the odds in the semifinal.

Being reduced to 5/2 inside the first two overs and slipping further to 33/4 in the seventh, Sri Lanka did not give up the chase of 131.

Harshitha Samarawickrama top-scored with 36 and found strong support from Kavisha Dilhari (33) at the other end to put Sri Lanka back on track, and the pair of Nilakshika Silva and Kaushini Nuthyangana finished the chase with calmness and composure in a tricky finish.

Two years ago in Dambulla, it was Harshitha who had teamed up with Athapaththu to defy India in the final, with both the Sri Lankan batters hitting half-centuries in a tall run chase.

With most of the players from the 2024 final finding themselves in the summit clash once again, Harmanpreet Kaur’s team would be determined to give no quarter, but there are some major concerns to address as well.

India came into the tournament with questions hovering over their collective batting form and sloppy fielding. Keeping aside Shafali’s form and Mandhana’s century two games ago, India would still need more from their other batters who have regularly failed to convert starts, along with a failure to find boundaries regularly.

Fielding still remains a major concern with India dropping four catches in the semifinal against a lowly Bangladesh, with two of them being spilled by Pratika Rawal.

Earlier, against Pakistan, India dropped three catches while restricting their arch-rivals to their lowest-ever T20I total.

Even against Thailand in their tournament opener, India had spilled two catches, which puts the number of dropped chances to an overall nine in four matches so far.

Teams (from): India: Harmanpreet Kaur (c), Smriti Mandhana (vc), Bharti Fulmali, Richa Ghosh (wk), Gunalan Kamalini (wk), Pratika Rawal, Shafali Verma, Deepti Sharma, Kranti Gaud, Prema Rawat, Arundhati Reddy, Renuka Singh Thakur, Nandani Sharma, Shree Charani, Radha Yadav.

Sri Lanka: Chamari Athapaththu (c), Harshitha Samarawickrama (vc), Imesha Dulani, Vishmi Gunaratne, Kaushini Nuthyangana (wk), Sanjana Kavindi, Hasini Perera, Nilakshika Silva, Kavisha Dilhari, Mithali Ayodhya, Kawya Kavindi, Sugandika Kumari, Nimasha Meepage, Chamudi Praboda, Chethana Vimukhti.

Match starts at 8:00 p.m. IST.

Published – September 13, 2026 03:15 am IST

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Asian Games: We will have this gold medal with us forever, says Harmanpreet

Women’s T20 Asia Cup final: India eye record-extending eighth title win against gritty Sri Lanka