IND-W vs THAI-W, Women's Asia Cup T20 2022: The women in blue led by their skipper Harmanpreet Kaur have continued to be outstanding this year. After clinching the silver in the all-important Commonwealth Games, the Indian team whitewashed Amy Jones and her side in a three-match ODI series. As far as the ongoing Asia Cup is concerned, the Indian team has been pretty dominant and have lost only one match, that too against their arch-rivals Pakistan.
The ongoing trend is expected to continue against Thailand when Harmanpreet Kaur and co. take the field against them in the all-important semi-finals. India require just one victory to inch book a berth in the finals and as of now, it looks quite certain that the sub-continent powerhouse will crunch the minnows on Thursday. Thailand certainly will be wary of the Indian challenge as they had bundled out for just 37 runs in 15.1 overs.
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India took a very different route in this championship. This tournament gave them a perfect opportunity to test their bench strength. With Harmanpreet Kaur resting in a few matches, Smriti Mandhana led the young Indian team and they did not disappoint. The team tried out the likes of T20 power-hitter Kiran Prabhu Navgire and Dayalan Hemalatha in search of a "finisher". While rookie Navgire, who smashed the fastest fifty in the Women’s T20 Challenge earlier in May, has managed just 10 runs from three innings, the more experienced Hemalatha has also failed to impress with 45 runs in four innings.
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The Thai team will look to better themselves and will look to get rid of the baggage of their previous failure against India. It is already commendable that Thailand has made it to the semi-finals and now they certainly will want to make it count. The Naruemol Chaiwai-led side would hope to prove that their qualification for the tournament was not a fluke.
India Women Squad: Shafali Verma, Smriti Mandhana, Sabbhineni Meghana, Jemimah Rodrigues, Pooja Vastrakar, Deepti Sharma, Harmanpreet Kaur(c), Richa Ghosh(w), Sneh Rana, Renuka Singh, Rajeshwari Gayakwad, Meghna Singh, Kiran Navgire, Dayalan Hemalatha, Radha Yadav
Thailand Women Squad: Nannapat Koncharoenkai(w), Natthakan Chantham, Naruemol Chaiwai(c), Chanida Sutthiruang, Sornnarin Tippoch, Phannita Maya, Rosenan Kanoh, Nattaya Boochatham, Onnicha Kamchomphu, Thipatcha Putthawong, Nanthita Boonsukham, Banthida Leephatthana, Sunida Chaturongrattana, Aphisara Suwanchonrathi, Suwanan Khiaoto, Suleeporn Laomi
(Inputs from PTI)
