India women's cricket team will clash against Sri Lanka in the Asian Games 2023 final on Monday, September 25. India recorded a dominating eight-wicket win over Bangladesh in the first semi-final while Sri Lanka knocked out Pakistan to claim the spot in a clash for the Gold medal.
The Women in Blue will be further strengthened against Sri Lanka in the final as captain Harmanpreet Kaur returns from her suspension. The legendary batting all-rounder missed the opening two knockout matches as she was serving the two-match ban she received for her outbursts against Bangladesh in July.
The star opener Smriti Mandhana led India against Malaysia and Bangladesh in Harmanpreet's absence. The Indian team advanced to the semi-final round after the Malaysia game washed out due to rain in the second innings. Then they registered an easy eight-wicket win against Bangladesh after Pooja Vastrakar's heroics. The pace all-rounder took four wickets to bowl out opponents on just 51 runs and then India easily chased the target in just 50 balls.
On the other hand, Sri Lanka defeated Thailand in the quarterfinal game by eight wickets and then achieved another comfortable win over Pakistan to reach the final.
India Women's squad for the Asian Games 2023: Harmanpreet Kaur (c), Smriti Mandhana (vc), Shafali Verma, Jemimah Rodrigues, Deepti Sharma, Richa Ghosh (wk), Amanjot Kaur, Devika Vaidya, Titas Sadhu, Rajeshwari Gayakwad, Minnu Mani, Kanika Ahuja, Uma Chetry (wk), Anusha Bareddy, Pooja Vastrakar.
Standby list of players: Harleen Deol, Kashvee Gautam, Sneh Rana, Saika Ishaque.