Sports

IIE DIGITAL: The Asian Cricket Council (ACC) has announced the schedule for the Women's Asia Cup 2026, with the tournament set to begin on August 28 in Dubai. The opening match will see Hong Kong take on Thailand, while the much anticipated India Pakistan clash is scheduled for September 5.

All matches will be played under floodlights at the Dubai International Stadium, with games beginning at 8 pm IST. The tournament will conclude with the final on September 13.

India have been placed in Group A alongside Pakistan, Thailand and Hong Kong. Harmanpreet Kaur's side will begin their campaign against Thailand on August 30, followed by a match against Hong Kong on September 3 before taking on arch rivals Pakistan two days later.

Group B features defending champions Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Indonesia and the United Arab Emirates. One of the key fixtures in the group stage will be the Sri Lanka Bangladesh encounter on September 6.

Each team will play every other side in its group once, with the top two teams from each group advancing to the semifinals.

This will be the sixth edition of the Women's Asia Cup to be played in the T20 format. Sri Lanka enter the tournament as defending champions after lifting the title in the previous edition. India have won the competition three times in the T20 era in 2012, 2016 and 2022, while Bangladesh claimed their maiden title in 2018.