Women's Asia Cup 2026 Preview: Tournament Begins August 28 in Dubai

The Women's Asia Cup 2026 gets underway on August 28 at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium, with the tournament opener between Thailand and Hong Kong, China kicking off three weeks of T20 cricket across the region's leading women's sides.

Eight teams have been split into two groups for the tournament, with Group A featuring holders India, Pakistan, Thailand and Hong Kong, China, while Group B brings together Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, the United Arab Emirates and Indonesia. India enter as defending champions, having lifted the trophy at the previous edition, and open their campaign against Thailand on August 30, before a high-profile group clash with arch-rivals Pakistan on September 5.

The tournament runs entirely on the group-stage format through to September 8, with the top two sides from each group progressing to the knockout stage. Semi-Final 1 is scheduled for September 10, followed by Semi-Final 2 on September 11, before the tournament concludes with the final on September 13, all matches to be played at the same Dubai venue.

With all 15 matches, including the final, being played at a single venue, conditions and dew factor are likely to play a significant role as the tournament progresses into its business end, particularly for teams chasing under lights. As always with the Asia Cup, the India-Pakistan fixture on September 5 is likely to be one of the standout draws of the group stage, though with two semi-final spots up for grabs in each group, plenty of other sides will have genuine chances of a deep run in this year's edition.