Asian Games 2026 medal will grow women's cricket, feels Shafali Verma

Star opening batter Shafali Verma believes Indian women's cricket is on an upward trend and will only grow with more medals and trophies.

Shafali played an instrumental role in the women's team defending its gold medal at the Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games in Japan.

Shafali was the top scorer at the Asian Games with 188 runs (an average of 188 and a strike rate over 200), which included a 49-ball century against Bangladesh in the semifinals. She played a useful innings of 40 runs against Japan in the quarterfinals and a sterling 48-run knock in the final against Sri Lanka.

India decimated Sri Lanka by 147 runs in the final, after crushing Bangladesh by 114 runs in the semifinals, and trounced Japan by eight wickets.

"I am very happy that India won the gold medal and that the tricolour was flying high. The full team is so happy. The more medals we win and the more trophies we clinch, the more our women's cricket will grow. And that is why I am so happy about," Shafali said upon returning from Japan on Thursday.

Shafali returned with the gold medal along with some teammates, including team's captain Harmanpreet Kaur, all-rounder Deepti Sharma, left-arm orthodox spinner Radha Yadav and batter Pratika Rawal.

While the captain, Deepti and Radha chose not to speak to the media due to certain BCCI protocol issues, Pratika made herself available for a brief chat with the waiting reporters at the airport.

"I am extremely happy that the team has done extremely well. This is what we wanted to do. We wanted to get a gold medal and the team has executed itself very well. The entire country is happy and cheers to everyone," Pratika, who didn't play a single match, told reporters.

Asked how defending the Asian Games gold would bolster India's chances of a podium finish at the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics, Pratika said: "Yes we are working towards that (starting as favourites for the LA Olympics in 2028). The way the team is shaping up it's incredible to see. We are hoping for the best," she signed off.

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