Bangladesh won the toss and elected to bat first against India
Nigar Sultana, the Bangladesh captain, won the toss and decided to bat first in order to put pressure on India in the knockout match, the first semi-final of the 2024 Women’s Asia Cup in Dambulla.
They made a change from their previous match against Malaysia, bringing in fast bowler Marufa Akter instead of Sabikun Jesmin. This decision meant that Marufa would partner experienced seamer Jahanara Alam, as Bangladesh opted to play two specialist seamers alongside their spinners.
India surprised with their decision to give young wicketkeeper-batter Uma Chetry a chance in the team as a specialist batter. She replaced D Hemalatha, who had not been able to make a big impact in her recent innings since returning to the international scene in April.
India also made a change in the pace department, with Pooja Vastrakar returning to the team in place of Arundhati Reddy. The spin attack remained unchanged, with Tanuja Kanwar retaining her spot. Kanwar had come in as a replacement for the injured Shreyanka Patil after the tournament opener against Pakistan.
Harmanpreet returned to the team after a brief rest, replacing S Sajana for India’s semi-final clash against Bangladesh.
Bangladesh will be looking to replicate their success from the 2018 Asia Cup final when they defeated India. However, India had the upper hand in their most recent encounters in Bangladesh in April, winning the T20I series 5-0.
India: 1 Smriti Mandhana, 2 Shafali Verma, Uma Chetry, 4 Harmanpreet Kaur (capt), 5 Jemimah Rodrigues, 6 Richa Ghosh (wk), 7 Deepti Sharma, 8 Pooja Vastrakar, 9 Radha Yadav, 10 Tanuja Kanwar, 11 Renuka Singh
Bangladesh: 1 Dilara Akter, 2 Murshida Khatun, 3 Nigar Sultana (capt, wk), 4 Rumana Ahmed, 5 Ishma Tanjim, 6 Ritu Moni, 7 Rabeya Khatun, 8 Shorna Akter, 9 Nahida Akter, 10 Jahanara Alam, 11 Marufa Akter
