The continental champions face a rapid turnaround before beginning their Asian Games title defence against hosts Japan
India leave Dubai as the DP World Women’s Asia Cup champions, unbeaten across the tournament and with another convincing final victory added to their record.
But there will be little time to celebrate as Harmanpreet Kaur’s side now travel to Japan to defend their Asian Games gold medal, beginning with a straight knockout match against the hosts on 18 September.
The semi-finals follow on 20 September, with the gold and bronze medal matches scheduled for 22 September. One defeat could end India’s campaign, leaving far less room to recover from the weaknesses that were sometimes hidden by their dominant results in Dubai.
India’s strengths are clear. Shafali Verma and Smriti Mandhana provided explosive runs at the top of the order, while Deepti Sharma finished as the Asia Cup’s leading wicket-taker with 14. Sree Charani further strengthened a spin attack that repeatedly took control of matches.
But India’s record eighth Asia Cup title should not prevent an honest assessment of the areas that still require attention.
The middle-order question
The most pressing concern is India’s tendency to lose momentum or wickets after the top order has established a strong position.
It did not happen in exactly the same way in every match, but the tournament produced enough evidence to make it a fair question ahead of the Asian Games.
Against Thailand, India moved from 91 for one to 137 for nine, losing eight wickets for 46 runs. Shafali’s 64 had put the team on course for a much larger total, but Harmanpreet Kaur, Bharti Fulmali, Richa Ghosh and Deepti Sharma contributed only 23 runs between them.
It was the clearest middle-order collapse of India’s campaign and came against a Thailand side ranked well below them. India eventually reached 159 for nine before their bowlers secured a comfortable 94-run victory.
The match against Hong Kong China produced a very different outcome. India amassed 193 for five, their highest total of the tournament, with Smriti Mandhana scoring a record 124 from 64 balls.
There was no collapse on that occasion, but the innings again showed how heavily India’s total depended on an opener producing an exceptional individual performance. Mandhana contributed almost two-thirds of the team’s runs before India’s bowlers dismissed Hong Kong China for 56.
India’s three-wicket loss during their chase against Pakistan was also not a conventional middle-order failure. Chasing only 56, they slipped to 29 for three inside four overs as Shafali, Pratika Rawal and Mandhana were dismissed by Fatima Sana.
Harmanpreet and Deepti then steadied the innings and completed the chase with 68 balls remaining. The target was too small to place the middle order under sustained pressure, but the early wickets provided another example of India losing batters in a cluster.
The semi-final against Bangladesh offered a more encouraging response, although the scoring rate remained subdued for long periods.
After Mandhana fell for two, Shafali made 64 and Rawal contributed 20 from 24 balls. India were 92 for three when Shafali was dismissed, before Harmanpreet’s unbeaten 24, Richa’s 21 and a six-ball 13 from Deepti carried them to 149 for six.
That was not a collapse. The middle order found enough runs on a difficult, spin-friendly surface, but Harmanpreet’s strike rate of 85.71 also reflected how hard India found it to accelerate once Shafali departed. Bangladesh’s four dropped chances further helped India reach a total that their bowlers successfully defended.
The pattern appeared again, although less severely than against Thailand, in the final against Sri Lanka.
Shafali and Mandhana produced a record 129-run opening partnership, but their dismissals were followed by another slide. India went from 129 without loss to 167 for five, losing five wickets for 38 runs.
A late unbeaten 15 from five balls by G Kamalini lifted India to 183 for five. It was the highest total in a Women’s Asia Cup final, but after reaching 140 for two at the end of 15 overs, India managed only 43 runs from the final five.
Asked by Dubai Diaries after the final whether the recurring loss of wickets following strong opening partnerships was something India intended to address, head coach Amol Muzumdar rejected the suggestion that there was a middle-order problem.
“I think there is no such thing as a middle-order collapse,” Muzumdar said. “We’ve had some lovely scores, given the conditions here. I don’t think there was anything regarding the middle order. We don’t have any concerns regarding that.
“We’ve had some amazing opening partnerships. Shafali and Smriti have been batting really well, and that is the nature of T20 cricket. You cannot have everyone showing up and scoring runs.”
Muzumdar was correct that India’s middle order did not collapse in every game. The team made 193 against Hong Kong China, recovered after losing three early wickets against Pakistan and found useful contributions in the semi-final.
However, the concern was not based on the final alone.
Before the semi-final, Shafali had already been questioned about India’s middle order and acknowledged that the players had experienced “a bit of bad days”, although she backed Richa and Fulmali to perform as finishers.
The ICC’s assessment ahead of the same match noted that India’s middle order had not fully taken off during the tournament. Harmanpreet also said before the final that someone needed to take responsibility and finish the innings after the openers had provided a platform.
Taken across all five matches, the evidence points not to a collapse in every innings, but to a recurring dependence on Shafali and Mandhana, an occasional loss of wickets in clusters and difficulty maintaining the scoring rate after a strong start.
Against Japan, India’s overall strength should be enough to overcome another batting slide. In a possible semi-final or final against Sri Lanka, Pakistan or Bangladesh, the consequences could be greater. Against the world’s strongest teams in future competitions, a platform of 120 or 130 without loss must be converted into the largest possible total.
It may not seem to be a troubling issue now, and is by no means a way of undermining or taking the focus away from India’s brilliant performance. Rather it is an unsettled area that deserves attention rather than outright dismissal.
