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India captain Harmanpreet Kaur praised Thailand for their disciplined bowling effort despite her side's middle-order collapse, as India began their Women's Asia Cup 2026 campaign with a comprehensive 94-run victory in Dubai on Sunday.
India, after being 108/2 at one stage, slipped to 137/9 before finishing on 159/9. Thailand, however, were bowled out for just 65 as India's bowlers completed a dominant performance. India lost Harmanpreet Kaur, Shafali Verma, Richa Ghosh, Deepti Sharma, Bharti Fulmali, Prema Rawat and Nandni Sharma for just 25 runs. Speaking after the match, Harmanpreet said India made a good start with the bat but struggled once the new ball became older and started holding up. She admitted the batters failed to execute some shots well, while also crediting Thailand for bowling in difficult areas and putting pressure on the Indian batters. "It was a good start with the bat. Overall, it was a good game for us. [On the collapse] I think with the new ball, the ball was coming nicely, but after that there was a bit of hold. Our batters, we sometimes didn't play good shots, but credit to Thailand for bowling in the areas where it wasn't easy to hit. They bowled well, and we also didn't execute very well," Harmanpreet said during the post-match presentation. Harmanpreet also highlighted the importance of Shafali Verma and Deepti Sharma, who played key roles in India's victory. Shafali top-scored with a blistering 64 off 36 balls, while Deepti produced a sensational bowling spell of 3/0 in 1.1 overs. "All the teams playing in the Asia Cup have shown a lot of improvement, so we can't take any team lightly. [On Shafali Verma and Deepti Sharma] Both of them are key players for us. Shafali is someone who gets crucial runs for us and has good rhythm and Deepti is someone with a lot of experience and today also she used that experience," she said. Player of the Match Shafali Verma said she focused on finding gaps early on before adapting her approach once the ball began to hold up. She added that India were happy with their performance and would look to maintain the momentum in the tournament. "In the starting i was just trying to place the ball in the gaps and after the new ball got old, there was a bit of hold, so I was just trying to get used to that. In the beginning, the ball was coming nicely to the bat, but then there was a bit of hold, so I was just trying to play it late and hit it in the gaps. We are happy as a team and planning to go out there and give our all to the team. We did well, so we are happy," she said. Thailand captain Thipatcha Putthawong was proud of her team's overall effort and said the match provided valuable experience against a top side. "Proud of how we performed overall. It was a good opportunity to play against a big team, something we don't get often. Next time, we'll come back harder," she said. She also felt Thailand improved with the ball in the second half of India's innings. "Felt that the second half of the innings with the ball was very good," she added. (ANI)
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