Pakistan women to start Asia Cup on Sept 1

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s women’s team will begin its ACC Women’s T20 Asia Cup 2026 campaign against Thailand on Tuesday, September 1, with the tournament itself scheduled to start on Friday in Dubai.

The competition will feature eight teams and all 15 matches will be played at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium, with every fixture set to start at 7:30pm Pakistan time. Thailand will also feature in the tournament opener against Hong Kong, China women. In Pakistan, matches will be shown on PTV Sports and streamed live on Tamasha, while ball-by-ball scores will be available on the Asian Cricket Council’s official website.

Pakistan have been placed in Group A and are due to face India on September 5 in their second match. Their final group-stage fixture is against Hong Kong, China on 7 August. Defending champions Sri Lanka are in Group B alongside Bangladesh, Indonesia and the United Arab Emirates. The semi-finals are scheduled for September 10 and 11, with the final to be played on September 13.

The Pakistan squad arrived in the United Arab Emirates on August 26 after completing a 10-day training camp at the National Cricket Academy. Ahead of the event, top-order batter Sadaf Shamas was brought into the squad in place of wicketkeeper-batter Najiha Alvi, who was ruled out after suffering an injury to her left knee.

Pakistan previously played three T20 Internationals at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium during the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup 2024. In the Women’s Asia Cup, the side’s best performances came in 2012 and 2016, when it finished runner-up in back-to-back editions. Pakistan reached the semi-finals in both the 2022 and 2024 tournaments.

The 2026 event is the 10th edition of the Women’s Asia Cup and the sixth to be held in T20 format. The first four editions, staged in 2004, 2005, 2006 and 2008, were played as One-Day tournaments.

Speaking before departure, captain Fatima Sana said the team had tried to simulate pressure situations during its preparation camp.

“We played matches against boys in our pre-tournament camp and that also helped us create pressure situations on the team, which is really helpful. Our aim to adopt the conditions as soon as possible in the tournament.

“We created such scenarios that helped our players deal with pressure situations. I’ll try to take the challenge of this tournament day-by-day and no one game is more important in the event. We want to win every single game and produce positive results.”

Pakistan’s squad for the tournament comprises Fatima Sana (captain), Ayesha Zafar, Eman Naseer, Eyman Fatima, Gull Feroza, Momina Riasat, Muneeba Ali Siddiqui (wk), Nashra Sundhu, Sadaf Shamas, Sadia Iqbal, Saira Jabeen, Shawaal Zulfiqar, Tuba Hassan, Umm-e-Hani and Waheeda Akhtar. The reserves are Tasmia Rubab, Humna Bilal and Maham Anees.

The support staff includes Wahab Riaz as coach and mentor, Ayesha Ashar as team manager, Abdur Rehman as spin bowling coach, Umaid Asif as fast bowling coach, Abdul Majeed as fielding coach, Imran Farhat as batting coach, Waleed Ahmed as performance analyst, Moeen as strength and conditioning coach, Dur Samand as physiotherapist and Raza Rashid Kitchlew as media manager.

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