Nishin, The Indian women’s cricket team won the gold medal at the Asian Games 2026, defeating Sri Lanka by 147 runs in the final. Chasing a mammoth target of 217, Sri Lanka were bowled out for 69 runs.
Captain Harmanpreet Kaur praised the team’s excellent performance throughout the tournament, particularly praising the bowlers.
After winning the gold medal, she said, “It’s a great feeling. Before the tournament, we talked a lot about progressing without losing, but more importantly, we should play to the high standards we set. It’s great to see everyone approach each match with such a positive attitude. Every player who got a chance performed well. As a captain and as a team, that’s what we wanted – to progress without losing and to perform consistently.”
He specifically praised the performance of the team’s bowlers, saying, “We had this expectation, and it was great to see everyone confidently translate that into reality. Our bowling unit deserves special praise, as we’ve worked very hard on it. Young bowlers like Kranti Gaud and Nandini took on significant responsibility, and their performance, especially in the powerplay, was outstanding.”
He further added, “Our bowling coach and staff worked closely with them on this. Beyond the young players, our spin attack is our main strength; bowlers like Shreyanka Patil and Deepti Sharma have consistently won matches and are always among the leading wicket-takers. Overall, the balance between experience and new talent was perfect, and every player performed well when needed.”
For India, Smriti Mandhana played a strong innings of 79 runs, while Richa Ghosh contributed an unbeaten 49 and Shafali Verma 48. In bowling, Deepti Sharma took three wickets, while Shreyanka Patil, Shefali Verma, and Sri Charani took two wickets each. India made history by winning the final by 147 runs. This is India’s biggest T20I win in terms of runs.
