India outclassed Sri Lanka by 72 runs in the Women's Asia Cup 2026 final on Sunday (September 13) at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium to lift their record-extending eighth title.
Shafali Verma (68 off 39 balls) and vice-captain Smriti Mandhana (59 off 39 balls) put together a blistering 129-run opening partnership. This set the highest-ever partnership for any wicket in Women's T20 Asia Cup history, propelling India to a massive total of 183/5.
Chasing a mountain of 184 runs, Sri Lanka's batting collapsed under pressure. Spinner Sree Charani ran through the opposition with an incredible 4-wicket haul (4/20), while the reliable Deepti Sharma chipped in with 3/19 to bowl out Sri Lanka for 111 off the very last ball.
With this resounding victory, the Women in Blue successfully avenged their defeat against Sri Lanka in the 2024 Asia Cup final.
Following the triumph, BCCI secretary Devajit Saikia showered rich praise on the Harmanpreet Kaur-led side.
“Everything went very well. We won, and everyone is extremely happy. Everyone is proud of their performance, and the biggest thing is that our country’s name is shining bright. There could be no greater cause for happiness than this. Everyone put in complete hard work; the entire team performed exceptionally, and our support staff worked tirelessly, which resulted in us winning this tournament so easily,” Saikia told IANS after the game.
India’s dominant performance was overshadowed again as the team decided to boycott the post-match presentation ceremony and refused to accept the winner's trophy and cheque from Asian Cricket Council (ACC) president Mohsin Naqvi.
This mirrored the decision of the India men’s team which did the same after winning the men’s Asia Cup last year.
Addressing the controversy, Saikia said: “Our men’s team won the Asia Cup a year and a half ago. And our whole situation, since the April 2025 Pahalgam incident, changed after that. So, after that, there was pressure on us from our citizens that we shouldn’t keep any relations with our neighboring country and not play cricket with them. But our government has a policy that we must play against every country in multinational tournaments...
“But that doesn’t mean we will follow every condition laid out for us. Our military conflict is still ongoing. One of the main leaders who is working against the interests of our country; we can’t receive the trophy from him. The Women’s team has expressed solidarity with the decision taken by the men’s team last year. It doesn’t diminish the performances of our team. We have won all our matches in a one-sided manner. Women’s cricket has been growing so well in India and there’s no bigger evidence of that than this. Our whole planning is geared towards the 2026 ICC T20 World Cup. The happiest part of this tournament is how India has left everyone else behind and surged so far ahead,” he added.
Saikia also explained the context of the visuals of himself and BCCI vice president Rajiv Shukla speaking cordially with Naqvi in the Royal Box.
“It’s not as if we wouldn’t meet anyone. I was sitting outside in the Royal Box seats right from the toss until the end of the game. Having sat there, I remained in that same place throughout the match. Everyone who came met me during the match; someone sat next to me, then Shukla came and sat with me. The person you mentioned also came and sat alongside Deputy Chairman Khalid (Khalid Al Zarooni) sahib. That’s just a normal tradition—whenever anyone comes, we meet and talk with everyone. We tried to solve today's situation, but our efforts were not successful. We don’t have any regrets. Our ultimate priority and ambition was not to focus on who would give the trophy. We wanted the Indian team to win and we’ve achieved that.”
“I also got the chance to give the fielding medal that’s given out after every game. The conversation that was had around that was about the Asian Games, not about whether the trophy should be taken or not,” he remarked.
Instead of celebratory events at home, the BCCI secretary confirmed that the women’s team is now focusing on winning gold medal at the upcoming Asian Games in Aichi-Nagoya.
“Currently, there are no such plans. Right now, our focus is on tomorrow, as our team will be leaving for Japan via Delhi. So, all our attention is set on the Asian Games starting in Japan, where our matches are scheduled for the 18th, 20th and 22nd. Our goal is to bring home the gold medal, and that is our sole objective,” Saikia concluded.
