After a few years’ absences, the women’s Asia Cup has marked its return. The 2022 upcoming edition of the women’s Asia Cup is all set to be played from the 1st to the 15th of October at the Sylhet Outer and International Cricket Stadium in Bangladesh. The tournament set to be played in the T20 format will feature 7 teams this time around.
The participating nations at this year’s edition of the Asia Cup see India, Pakistan, Thailand, Malaysia, United Arab Emirates, hosts Bangladesh and Sri Lanka take part. One of the oldest teams in the tournament, Sri Lanka, for the upcoming tournament has named a 15-player squad.
Sri Lanka’s most recent outing dates back to early August when the side took the field for their last league stage game during the Commonwealth Games. An early exit and a poor show at the Games tempted Sri Lanka to make 3 swaps in their squad which sees Tharika Sewwandi, Madushika Meththananda and Kaushini Nuthyanga come in for Vishmi Gunaratne, Ama Kanchana and Udeshika Prabodhani
Sri Lanka’s squad for Asia Cup –
Chamari Athapaththu (C), Hasini Perera, Harshitha Samarawickrama, Kaveesha Dilhari, Nilakshi de Silva, Anushka Sanjeevani (wk), Kaushini Nuthyanga, Oshadhi Ranasinghe, Malsha Shehani, Madushika Meththananda, Inoka Ranaweera, Rashmi Silva, Sugandika Kumari, Achini Kulasooriya, Tharika Sewwandi.
The left-arm pacer, Tharika Sewwandi was handed her T20I debut cap early this year during the sides tour of Malaysia and in the couple of games, she played, against Kenya and Malaysia registered respective figures of 2-0-10-0 and 4-0-14-0. Right arm pacer, Madushika Meththananda marks her return to the side after 3 years, the lone T20I game she’d played was back in 2019 where she register figures of 2-0-23-0. Uncapped Kaushini Nuthyanga, 20, is a wicketkeeper-batter who opens the innings and on the back of notable performances has received a maiden call-up.
Sri Lanka’s Asia Cup schedule –
01-Oct-2022 : vs India (1:30 PM)
02-Oct-2022 : vs the United Arab Emirates (1:30 PM)
04-Oct-2022 : vs Thailand (9:00 AM)
08-Oct-2022 : vs Malaysia (9:00 AM)
10-Oct-2022 : vs Bangladesh (9:00 AM)
11-Oct-2022 : vs Pakistan (1:30 PM)
The inaugural edition of the Asia Cup was played as a bilateral series between India and Sri Lanka which the side lost 0-5. In the 2005-06, 2006 and 2008 editions of the Asia Cup, the side finished as runners-up and are yet to get their first title win.
In a historic move, this time around in the Asia Cup, there will be two women umpires and a woman match referee from Sri Lanka who’ll be officiating at the upcoming Women’s Asia Cup. Former Sri Lanka women’s team opener Dedunu De Silva and Nimali Perera, both who are Sri Lanka Cricket Level 3 umpires and former player, Vanessa De Silva, who is also a match referee, are the historic trio, who’ll be officiating games during the tournament.
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