The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), on Tuesday, announced the Indian women’s cricket team that will defend its title at the Asian Games 2026 in Aichi-Nagoya, Japan later this year.
Harmanpreet Kaur will be the Indian cricket team captain at the continental showpiece for the second successive time, with Smriti Mandhana as deputy.
Jemimah Rodrigues, Shafali Verma, Deepti Sharma, Richa Ghosh and Renuka Singh are among the experienced names in the 15-member squad.
All-rounder Shreyanka Patil has been named subject to fitness clearance.
Japan will host the Asian Games from September 19 to October 4, with the women’s cricket competition scheduled from September 17 to 22.
The tournament will feature eight teams and be played in a direct knockout format beginning with the quarter-finals.
The Indian women’s cricket team will head into the competition as the defending champions after winning the gold medal on their Asian Games debut at Hangzhou 2023. Harmanpreet’s team beat Sri Lanka in the final after defeating Bangladesh in the semi-finals.
Cricket had returned to the Asian Games programme at Hangzhou 2023 after a nine-year absence, having last featured at Incheon 2014.
India will also take confidence from having already secured a team quota for the LA 2028 Olympics as the highest-placed Asian side at the ongoing Women’s T20 World Cup in England.
The Indian men’s cricket team at the Asian Games 2026 will be led by Shreyas Iyer, with youngster Vaibhav Sooryavanshi also in the squad.
Asian Games 2026 Indian women’s cricket team – full squad
India women’s Asian Games cricket squad: Harmanpreet Kaur (captain), Smriti Mandhana (vice-captain), Shafali Verma, Jemimah Rodrigues, Deepti Sharma, Richa Ghosh (wicket-keeper), Gunalan Kamalini (wicket-keeper), Bharti Fulmali, Sree Charani, Renuka Thakur, Kranti Gaud, Arundhati Reddy, Shreyanka Patil (subject to fitness), Radha Yadav, Nandni Sharma.
READ MORE: https://www.olympics.com/en/news/asian-games-2026-cricket-india-women-team-squad
