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India women's cricket team clinched a gold medal at the Asian Games 2026 in Japan's Aichi-Nagoya on Tuesday, and the Indian cricketer Shafali Verma's father, Sanjeev Verma, described the feat as a 'matter of immense joy'.
India defeated Sri Lanka by 147 runs in Tuesdays final to claim their second successive Asian Games gold medal, following their triumph at Hangzhou in 2023. The victory also gave India its first gold of the ongoing edition, taking its medal tally to seven. Speaking to ANI in Rohtak, Verma said, "It is a matter of immense joy. A gold medal has come to our country, and that too through women's cricket. There is an atmosphere of great happiness. Congratulations to the entire nation; our daughters have brought glory to the country. Shafali played very well. Back when the team travelled to Dubai for the Asia Cup, she had worked hard on her skills, and the scores reflected that effort there as well as here at the Asian Games." "It feels wonderful when Team India wins, and it is truly great that she contributed with a good score. May she continue to progress and keep winning matches for Team India. We spoke yesterday before the match. I told her to give her best, whether it was bowling or batting," he added. Shafali contributed with 48 off 29 balls in the final, sharing an opening stand with Smriti Mandhana, who top-scored with 79 off 45 deliveries. Richa Ghosh provided the late impetus with an unbeaten 49 off 22 balls as India posted 216/3. Indias bowlers then restricted Sri Lanka to 69 in 15.4 overs. Deepti Sharma returned figures of 3/6, while Shafali, Shreyanka Patil and N Shree Charani picked up two wickets each. Shafalis recent performances have also lifted her two places to fourth in the ICC Womens T20I batting rankings, with 756 rating points. She moved past teammate Mandhana and West Indies Hayley Matthews, while Australias Beth Mooney, Georgia Voll and South Africas Laura Wolvaardt retained the top three positions. The 22-year-old carried her form from the Womens T20 Asia Cup into the Asian Games, scoring 64 and 68 in the continental tournaments semifinal and final, respectively. At the Games, she hit an unbeaten 40 against Japan in the quarterfinal and an unbeaten 100 off 49 balls against Bangladesh in the semifinal. The century was her maiden white-ball hundred in international cricket and made her the first woman to score a century at the Asian Games. Meanwhile, Indias Deepti and Shree Charani continued to occupy the top two spots in the T20I bowling rankings, with both recording career-best rating points. Charani climbed 15 places, and Deepti rose 22. Indias Kranti Gaud and Nandani Sharma also made gains, reaching 57th and 72nd, respectively. Mandhana also achieved a milestone in the Asian Games final, becoming the first woman cricketer to reach 11,000 international runs. Indias gold-medal victory marked their second consecutive title in womens cricket at the Asian Games. (ANI)
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