Asia prepares to do battle
Four of Asia's bitter rivals are getting together to contest the Asia Cup as they step up their preparations for the women's World Cup.
India, who lead the way with 15 wins out of 15 in the history of the Asia Cup, are this year joined by Sri Lanka, Pakistan and debutants Bangladesh.
India captain Mithali Raj said the competition will be the start of a tough time for her side.
“It’s definitely part of our preparations for the World Cup and is the start of the season for us," she said, looking ahead to the showpiece event in Australia next year.
“We have a tour to England and Australia before the World Cup. If we have to work on combinations for our best team, then the Asia Cup is one tournament where we can try this out.”
India won the Asia Cup in 2004, 2005/06 and 2006/07 and will be looking for their fourth successive victory in Sri Lanka this time round.
“It’s good we have five girls who are making their debuts at this event," Raj added. "It’s a good platform for them before they play against top sides like Australia, New Zealand and England.
“Every team tries to improve every time it plays. I think Sri Lanka is a very good fielding side as they are very agile in the field and Pakistan has a good set of spinners and some depth in its batting."
Pakistan's confidence is high after they finished a respectable second in the World Cup qualifying event behind hosts South Africa, which automatically gave them a place in the showcase event.
Pakistan captain Urooj Mumtaz said: “It’s good for the confidence of the players and the team to come into this tournament after achieving something substantial in the previous event.
India have won 15 out of 15 encounters © Getty ImagesBuy this photo “But we know it’s a huge task ahead of us in the Asia Cup with India ranked number two and Sri Lanka ranked in the top six.
“We’ve been analysing our performances from the World Cup qualifier, our strengths and weaknesses, and if we play to our potential here we can pull off some great wins.
“The Asia Cup will be a great learning experience for us.”
Sri Lanka have won four of the 15 games they have played in the Asia Cup, reaching the final on each occasion, but they have not played any form of international cricket since December 2006.
However, captain Shashikala Siriwardene is looking forward to getting back in action.
"We’ve taken part in the last three Asia Cups and come in the final each time. We are hoping to do one better this time," she said.
“It’s a good tournament with India and Pakistan, who have also qualified for the World Cup. It’s like a practice tournament for the World Cup for us and I am hopeful we can win.”
Bangladesh remained unbeaten throughout the ACC Women’s Tournament in Malaysia last year, giving them hope of creating an upset against one of their more experienced opponents.
Panna Ghosh was Bangladesh’s star performer and was rewarded for valuable contributions with both bat and ball by winning the player of the tournament award.
However, only the matches between India, Sri Lanka and Pakistan will have ODI status.
India's Jhulan Goswami, who won the women’s player of the year at the ICC awards, is set to become the second Indian after Neetu David - and fourth overall - in the history of the game to take 100 one-day international wickets.
The 24-year-old seamer from Bengal currently has 96 wickets from 79 ODIs and will be looking to boost her tally during the tournament, which takes place from May 2-11.
Mithali Raj © Getty Images
