The 19th edition of the Asian Games is all set to get underway from 19th September 2023 in Hangzhou, China. Cricket will be making its return to the Asian Games for the first time since 2014. A total number of nine teams will be participating in the tournament, namely Hong Kong, China, Malaysia, Indonesia, Mongolia, India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, and Thailand. Five teams, India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, and Thailand have already qualified for the Quarter-Finals as per the ICC Women’s T20I Rankings.
The Pakistan women’s cricket team suffered a huge blow ahead of the 19th Asian Games denting their hopes of making a hattrick of gold medals at the Asian Games this year, as the 21-year-old all-rounder Fatima Sana has been ruled out of the upcoming tournament in China courtesy of the injury she suffered in her right thigh during the second ODI in the recently concluded ODI series against South Africa.
She recently had an impressive outing with the bat for Pakistan, rescuing her side from a precarious position (49/6), scoring a well-compiled half-century (69 off 87 balls), and scoring at a strike rate of 79.31. Her knock included 10 boundaries.
Pakistan women’s team squad for the upcoming Asian Games 2023 👇#CricketTwitter #AsianGames2023 pic.twitter.com/v9xtlvvjgx
— Female Cricket (@imfemalecricket) September 17, 2023
The 28-year-old left-arm spinner Sadia Iqbal has been called in as a replacement for the injured all-rounder Fatima Sana on the back of impressive performances in the recently concluded limited-overs series against South Africa. She has been a joint highest wicket-taker alongside Nashra Sandhu in the T20I series with four wickets to her name at an impressive strike rate of 18 and an average of 17.25.
Pakistan Women’s Squad for 19th Asian Games 2023, Hangzhou, China:
Nida Dar (captain), Aliya Riaz, Anoosha Nasir, Diana Baig, Muneeba Ali, Najiha Alvi, Nashra Sundhu, Nataliya Parvaiz, Omaima Sohail, Sadaf Shamas, Sadia Iqbal, Shawaal Zulfiqar, Sidra Amin, Syeda Aroob Shah and Umm-e-Hani
Asian Games 2022 Schedule (Women’s Cricket):
| DATE | MATCH(ES) | TIME (IST) |
19-Sep-23 |
Indonesia v Mongolia | 9:30 AM |
| Hong Kong v Malaysia | 2:30 PM | |
| 20-Sep-23 | Qualifier quarter-final (TBD v TBD) | 9:30 AM |
21-Sep-23 |
Quarter-final (India v TBD) | 9:30 AM |
| Quarter-final (Pakistan v TBD) | 2:30 PM | |
22-Sep-23 |
Quarter-final (Sri Lanka v TBD) | 9:30 AM |
| Quarter-final (Bangladesh v TBD) | 2:30 PM | |
24-Sep-23 |
Semi-final (TBD v TBD) | 9:30 AM |
| Semi-final (TBD v TBD) | 2:30 PM | |
25-Sep-23 |
Bronze medal match (TBD v TBD) | 9:30 AM |
| Gold medal match – Final (TBD v TBD) | 2:30 PM |