India have made just one change to their squad for the women’s cricket competition at the 2026 Asian Games, replacing out-of-form wicketkeeper-batter Yastika Bhatia with 17-year-old G Kamalini after their group-stage exit from the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup.
Kamalini, regarded as one of India’s brightest young talents, has been named as the reserve wicketkeeper for the tournament, which will be held in Aichi-Nagoya, Japan, from September 17 to 22.
Off-spin all-rounder Shreyanka Patil has also been included in the squad, subject to fitness clearance. Patil suffered an ankle ligament injury during India’s Women’s T20 World Cup match against the Netherlands and was ruled out of the remainder of the tournament. Leg-spinner Prema Rawat, who replaced Patil in the World Cup squad and featured in one match, has not been retained for the Asian Games.
Bhatia, who played four matches during the T20 World Cup, endured a forgettable run, managing a mere 41 runs from three innings at an average of 13.66 and a strike rate of 117.14. She was used in different batting positions throughout the tournament as India continued to search for the right middle-order combination. In the final group-stage match against Australia, she was pushed down the order and did not get an opportunity to bat.
Meanwhile, Kamalini has impressed over the past two Women’s Premier League seasons with the Mumbai Indians and made her India debut in a T20I against Sri Lanka in December 2025. Opening the batting in that match, she scored 12 runs. Across 15 T20 matches so far, the teenager has batted both at the top of the order and in the lower middle order, scoring 119 runs.
India will head to the Asian Games as defending champions after winning the gold medal in Hangzhou, China. Harmanpreet Kaur’s side defeated Sri Lanka by 19 runs in the final to claim the title.
This year’s women’s cricket competition at the Asian Games will feature Bangladesh, China, India, Japan, Malaysia, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Thailand, with the matches scheduled from September 17 to 22 in Aichi-Nagoya.
India squad for 2026 Asian Games: Harmanpreet Kaur (capt), Smriti Mandhana (vc), Shafali Verma, Jemimah Rodrigues, Deepti Sharma, Richa Ghosh (wk), G Kamalini (wk), Bharti Fulmali, Shree Charani, Renuka Singh, Kranti Gaud, Arundhati Reddy, Shreyanka Patil (subject to fitness clearance), Radha Yadav, Nandani Sharma.