India Women's Cricket Team Secures Gold at Asian Games 2026

Historic Victory for India Women's Cricket

Rohtak (Haryana) [India], September 22: The Indian women's cricket team has achieved a remarkable milestone by winning a gold medal at the 2026 Asian Games held in Aichi-Nagoya, Japan. Shafali Verma's father, Sanjeev Verma, expressed his immense pride in this accomplishment.

In the final match, India triumphed over Sri Lanka by a significant margin of 147 runs, marking their second consecutive gold medal at the Asian Games, following their victory in Hangzhou in 2023. This win also contributed to India's overall medal tally, bringing it to seven for the current edition.

In an interview, Sanjeev Verma shared, "This is a moment of great joy for our country, especially through women's cricket. The atmosphere is filled with happiness. Congratulations to the nation; our daughters have brought honor to India. Shafali performed exceptionally well. She dedicated herself to improving her skills during the Asia Cup in Dubai, and her scores reflect that hard work both there and at the Asian Games."

He continued, "It’s a wonderful feeling when Team India wins, and I’m thrilled that she played a significant role in this victory. I advised her to give her best in both bowling and batting before the match yesterday."

In the final, Shafali scored 48 runs off 29 balls, partnering with Smriti Mandhana, who led the team with 79 runs from 45 balls. Richa Ghosh added a late surge with an unbeaten 49 runs off just 22 balls, helping India set a total of 216/3.

India's bowlers then dominated, restricting Sri Lanka to a mere 69 runs in 15.4 overs. Deepti Sharma excelled with impressive figures of 3/6, while Shafali, Shreyanka Patil, and N Shree Charani each took two wickets.

Shafali's outstanding performances have propelled her to fourth place in the ICC Women’s T20I batting rankings, with 756 rating points, surpassing her teammate Mandhana and West Indies' Hayley Matthews. The top three positions remain held by Australia's Beth Mooney, Georgia Voll, and South Africa's Laura Wolvaardt.

The 22-year-old has carried her excellent form from the Women’s T20 Asia Cup into the Asian Games, scoring 64 and 68 runs in the semifinal and final of that tournament. At the Asian Games, she also made headlines with an unbeaten 40 against Japan in the quarterfinal and a stunning 100 off 49 balls against Bangladesh in the semifinal, marking her first white-ball century in international cricket and making her the first woman to achieve this feat at the Asian Games.

Additionally, Deepti and Shree Charani have maintained their positions at the top of the T20I bowling rankings, both achieving career-best rating points. Charani climbed 15 places, while Deepti rose 22 spots. Kranti Gaud and Nandani Sharma from India also made notable advancements, reaching 57th and 72nd places, respectively.

Smriti Mandhana also reached a significant milestone during the Asian Games final, becoming the first female cricketer to surpass 11,000 international runs.

This gold medal victory signifies India's second consecutive title in women's cricket at the Asian Games.