Pakistan Women’s cricket team has chosen a unique preparation ahead of the Women’s Asia Cup 2026. Under captain Fatima Sana, the side played full T20 matches against a Men’s team from the Abdul Qadir Cricket Academy during their pre-tournament camp at the National Cricket Academy in Lahore. This decision was made to give them tougher practice. Instead of limited scenario drills, the women faced teenage and senior male players under standard Twenty20 rules. Fatima Sana later said the sessions helped the group understand how to handle pressure better and that the learnings from these games would help them once the competition begins.
The Women’s Asia Cup will start on 28 August in Dubai and go on till 13 September. Pakistan are placed in Group A with India, Thailand and Hong Kong China. Their campaign starts against Thailand on 1 September, followed by the high-profile match with India on 5 September and Hong Kong China on 7 September. The top two sides from each group will advance to the semi-finals and the Final will be played on 13th September. Pakistan have never lifted the Asia Cup trophy. Their best result came as runners-up in 2012 and 2016, both times losing to India. In the last two editions they exited at the semi-final stage. They will come to this tournament after a very poor T20 World Cup campaign earlier in 2026 in which they managed only one win.
Women’s Cricket Makes Returns to Asian Games 2026
Women’s cricket has featured at the Asian Games on three previous occasions and returns for a fourth time in 2026. The event is contested exclusively in the T20 format and is placed alongside the men’s competition as part of the multi-sport programme. The first edition came at the 2010 Asian Games in China. Pakistan claimed gold by defeating Bangladesh by 10 wickets in the final while Japan took bronze. Four years later in South Korea, Pakistan successfully defended their title again beating Bangladesh in a tight final decided by four runs. Sri Lanka collected the bronze medal on that occasion.
After being removed from the Games for the 2018 edition, cricket returned at the 2022 Asian Games in Hangzhou held in 2023. India, who were making their debut in the women’s event won gold by beating Sri Lanka by 19 runs in the final. Bangladesh secured bronze after defeating Pakistan, who finished fourth. Across the three editions, Pakistan have won two gold medals. India have one gold. Bangladesh have two silvers and one bronze, while Sri Lanka and Japan each own one bronze. The 2026 edition will take place from 17 to 22 September at Korogi Sports Park in Aichi Prefecture, Japan. Eight teams are expected to compete and the structure follows a knockout path of quarter-finals, semi-finals, a bronze-medal match and the gold-medal final.
