Women's Asia Cup: India seek payback against resilient Sri Lanka in title clash

Team India (ANI Photo)

It will be spin versus spin in the title clash of the 2026 Women’s Asia Cup. On slow Dubai pitches where spinners have dominated, seven-time champions India will rely on senior allrounder Deepti Sharma and explosive openers Smriti Mandhana and Shafali Verma when they take on a resilient Sri Lanka in Sunday’s T20 Asia Cup final at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium.The ball has largely dominated the bat in this edition. India’s spinners have taken 26 wickets in four matches, while Sri Lanka’s tweakers have 25. Shafali has defied those conditions, emerging as the tournament’s leading run-scorer with 168 runs at a strike rate of 169.69 and an average of 42.00. Mandhana has scored 154 at 38.50, striking at 171.11.The two sides’ premier off-spinning allrounders, Deepti and Sri Lanka skipper Chamari Athapaththu, are joint leading wicket-takers with 11 scalps each.

Deepti, the fulcrum of India’s attack, followed a six-ball 13 in the semifinal against Bangladesh with 3-26 to help India defend 149.

With economical left-arm spinner Shree Charani, India’s leading T20I wicket-taker in 2026, and impressive leg-spinner Prema Rawat alongside Deepti, India have a potent spin attack for the Dubai conditions. Deepti is now the leading wicket-taker in T20Is, with 179 wickets in 153 matches.

Both teams are unbeaten, having won all four matches. India, however, will be keen to avenge Sri Lanka’s stunning eight-wicket win in the 2024 final in Dambulla, when Harshitha Samarawickrama (69*) and Athapaththu (61) powered the hosts to a comfortable chase of 166.