India vs Pakistan: Players To Watch Out For In Upcoming Women's Asia Cup Clash

The first day of the 2024 Women's Asia Cup on July 19 will see the big clash between India and Pakistan at the Rangiri Dambulla International Cricket Stadium. India come in as the defending champions and have won the tournament seven times.

They also have an 11-3 lead over Pakistan in women's T20I meetings. On the other hand, Pakistan enter the event after an inconsistent run of results in their bilateral commitments but have the confidence to upstage India, as they did in the 2022 edition of the tournament at Sylhet in Bangladesh.

We look at the players to watch out for in the upcoming big clash between India and Pakistan, which will be streamed live on Disney Hotstar for eager fans in India:

1. Smriti Mandhana

The India vice-captain comes into the tournament on the back of a scintillating performance across formats in the recent home series against South Africa. Scores of 117, 136 and 90 in India's 3-0 ODI sweep at Bengaluru fetched her Player of the Series Award. It was followed by the left-handed opener making 149 in the lone Test and scores of 46 and 54 not out in the two T20Is at Chennai. With Shafali Verma in good form too, expect Smriti to bat for long and take India to a winning position.

2. Renuka Singh Thakur

The fast-bowler, who won the ICC Emerging Player of the Year Award in 2022, is tipped to lead the Indian fast-bowling challenge in the Asia Cup. Her excellent performance of 3-18 in the T20I series opener against Bangladesh, along with her previous excellent performances against Australia and England, is still very much fresh in the minds of fans.

3. Deepti Sharma

The off-spin all-rounder boasts of a staggering achievement -– the first Indian woman to score 1000 runs and take 100 wickets in women's