‘Proud moment’: PM Modi, President hail India; Women’s team snubs Asi…

With a stellar unbeaten run, India's women's cricket team clinched their eighth Asia Cup title. Celebrations ensued as Prime Minister Modi and President Murmu praised the team's remarkable victory. In the final, Smriti Mandhana and Shafali Verma spearheaded the batting attack, while the bowling unit effectively curtailed Sri Lanka's score. The focus now shifts to pursuing gold at the upcoming Asian Games.

Dubai [UAE], September 14 (ANI): India’s women’s cricket team delivered a dominant performance in the Women’s T20 Asia Cup 2026, emerging as the standout side across batting and bowling departments while lifting the title with a commanding campaign.

The Harmanpreet Kaur-led India clinched their eighth Women’s Asia Cup title after thrashing Sri Lanka by 72 runs in the Final on Sunday, which was played at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium. beltedkingfisher.blog

India’s batting unit maintained a significantly higher scoring rate than the rest of the tournament, recording a run rate of 8.35 compared to 5.12 by the other teams combined. Their batting strength was further reflected in their runs-per-wicket ratio of 26.46, more than double the combined figure of 11.95 for other teams.

The Indian batters also produced the highest number of individual half-centuries in the tournament with four, while the remaining teams collectively managed only two. India were the only side to register a century, with one batter reaching the three-figure mark. The team also dominated the six-hitting charts, smashing 32 sixes during the tournament, while all other teams combined hit 22.

India’s bowling attack was equally impressive, finishing with the best bowling average of 8.84 and an economy rate of 4.29. In comparison, the other teams collectively recorded a bowling average of 16.12 and an economy rate of 5.79.

The six-hitting gap highlighted India’s attacking approach, with the champions hitting a six every 16.62 balls. Sri Lanka followed with eight sixes at a rate of one every 64.62 balls, while Pakistan hit seven, Bangladesh four, Thailand two and Indonesia one. Hong Kong and the UAE failed to hit a six during the tournament.

However, India’s fielding remained an area of concern as they recorded the lowest catching efficiency among all participating teams. The Indian side dropped 17 catches, the most in the tournament, while Indonesia were next with seven dropped catches. India’s catching efficiency stood at 59.5 per cent, with Indonesia the only other team below the 70 per cent mark at 58.8 per cent.

Bowling spearhead Shree Charani also created history during the tournament, becoming the Indian women’s bowler with the most T20 International wickets in a calendar year. Charani has taken 39 wickets in 2026, surpassing Poonam Yadav’s previous record of 35 wickets in 2018. Deepti Sharma follows with 30 wickets in both 2024 and 2026.

Charani was also among the record performers in Women’s T20 Asia Cup finals, registering figures of 4/20 against Sri Lanka in Dubai. Her spell placed her among the few bowlers to take a four-wicket haul in a final, joining Poonam Yadav (4/9 vs Bangladesh, 2018) and Sana Mir (4/13 vs India, 2012).

India’s all-round dominance, backed by explosive batting, disciplined bowling and record-breaking individual performances, underlined their status as the strongest team in the Women’s T20 Asia Cup 2026.

India Women produced a commanding all-round performance to clinch the eighth Women’s Asia Cup title, defeating Sri Lanka by 72 runs in the final in Dubai.

After Smriti Mandhana and Shafali Verma powered India to 183/5 with a record 129-run opening stand, Sree Charani led the attack with an impressive 4/20 from four overs, while Deepti Sharma chipped in with 3/19 from her four-over spell.

Chasing 184 in the high-pressure final, Sri Lanka endured an early setback in the opening over. Imesha Dulani began with a boundary, but Indian pacer Kranti Gaud responded strongly, bowling her on the fourth delivery to put the chasing side on the back foot.

After the 129-run opening stand between Smriti and Shafali, Indian batting fell flat, with skipper Harmanpreet Kaur (14 in 14 balls) and Richa Ghosh (17 in 13 balls) failing to score big. A cameo from Bharti Fulmali (15* in five balls, with a four and a six) took India to 183/5 in 20 overs.

Mithali Ayodhya (1/33 in four overs) and Chamari Athapaththu (1/34 in four overs) were top bowlers for Sri Lanka. (ANI)

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The Asia Cup trophy impasse continued for the second year in a row after the victorious Indian women’s cricket on Sunday did not accept the cup from Mohsin Naqvi, the Asian Cricket Council (ACC) chairman from Pakistan.

Harmanpreet Kaur-led India defeated Sri Lanka by 72 runs here to lift their record-extending eighth Asia Cup title, but the players did not come out on the field for post-tournament presentation ceremonies.

All smiles in Dubai

A dominating show by #TeamIndia as they beat Sri Lanka by 7⃣2⃣ runs to clinch their 8⃣th #WomensAsiaCup title

Scorecard https://t.co/knKLXGSfOd #INDvSL pic.twitter.com/vwLmZZcUUD

— BCCI Women (@BCCIWomen) September 13, 2026

“India are officially the (Asia Cup) champions. Trophy or no trophy doesn’t matter to us. This is BCCI’s stand (to not take trophy from Naqvi). We can’t say anything on this," India head coach Amol Muzumdar said in the post-match press conference.

It may be recalled that the Indian men’s team had last year declined to receive the Asia Cup trophy and medals from Naqvi, who heads the Pakistan Cricket Board and is also the Interior Minister of that country.

The Indian team is yet to receive the Asia Cup trophy, which has since been kept in the ACC office.

Instead the Suryakumar Yadav-led Indian outfit conducted an impromptu celebration on the dais without the physical prize.

However, this time the Indian women’s team members did not even return to the ground after BCCI secretary Devajit Saikia presented Nandini Sharma with an in-house best fielder medal.

However, the Sri Lankan team received the runners-up cheque from Naqvi, and before that all the players and support staff accepted medals from SLC interim chief Eran Wikramaratne.

Naqvi left the stadium immediately after presenting the award to Sri Lankan skipper Chamari Athapaththu, but unlike last year he moved away without carrying the trophy.

The diplomatic relations between India and Pakistan have been frozen ever since last year’s Pahalgam terror attack and the subsequent Operation Sindoor.

The players from both the sides – men and women – now follow a no-handshake protocol whenever they meet in the Asian or the global events conducted by the ICC. PTI

Saltillo [Mexico], September 14 (ANI): Indian recurve archer Dhiraj Bommadevara created history by winning the men’s individual title at the Archery World Cup Final 2026 in Saltillo, Mexico, becoming the first Indian male archer to claim an individual crown at the season-ending event, according to Olympics.com.

The 25-year-old defeated Japan’s Nakanishi Junya 6-5 in a thrilling gold medal match that went into a shoot-off. Dhiraj held his nerve under pressure, hitting a 10 in the deciding attempt to beat Nakanishi’s nine and secure the biggest individual title of his career.

With this achievement, Dhiraj became only the second Indian archer to win an individual title at the Archery World Cup Final, following Dola Banerjee, who won the women’s recurve title in Dubai in 2007.

Dhiraj, India’s lone representative at the 2026 World Cup Final, produced a dominant run through the eight-player field. He began his campaign with a convincing 7-1 victory over Olympic medallist Berkim Tümer of Türkiye in the quarter-finals before defeating two-time Olympic silver medallist Jean-Charles Valladont of France 7-1 in the semi-finals.

The final against fourth-seeded Nakanishi was closely fought, with neither archer able to establish a clear advantage. The opening set ended level at 28-28, before Nakanishi won the second set 29-28. Dhiraj responded by taking the third set 29-28, but the Japanese archer regained the lead with a 30-28 fourth-set win.

Needing victory in the fifth set to force a shoot-off, Dhiraj delivered under pressure, winning 28-27 to level the match at 5-5 before sealing the title in the decider, according to Olympics.com.

Dhiraj’s triumph completed an impressive season after he qualified for the World Cup Final by winning the men’s individual recurve title at the third World Cup stage in Antalya. He also won the mixed team gold alongside Kumkum Mohod at the same event.

India finished the 2026 Archery World Cup season with seven medals across four stages in Puebla, Shanghai, Antalya and Madrid, including four gold medals. Dhiraj was the country’s only individual gold medallist after his Antalya and World Cup Final successes.

The Indian archer had previously competed at the World Cup Final in 2023 and 2024 but returned without a medal on both occasions. His historic victory in Saltillo marked a breakthrough moment in Indian recurve archery. (ANI)

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Barcelona [Spain], September 14 (ANI): Barcelona maintained their perfect start to the 2026-27 La Liga season after defeating Levante 4-2 at the Ciutat de València on Sunday, with Karim Adeyemi scoring a stunning late goal to seal victory for the Catalan side.

Barcelona looked set for a comfortable win after racing to a three-goal lead, but Levante mounted a late comeback attempt with two goals in the final stages before Adeyemi’s stoppage-time strike ended the contest.

The victory marked Barcelona’s sixth consecutive competitive win of the season, matching the club’s best-ever 100 per cent start to a campaign. They remain at the top of the La Liga table.

Xavi Espart opened the scoring for Barcelona in the fifth minute with a low right-footed effort from the edge of the box, marking his first competitive goal for the club.

Barcelona doubled their advantage in the 19th minute when Lamine Yamal finished off a well-worked move involving Fermín López and Raphinha. The Brazilian winger played a key role in the attack, providing his second assist of the match.

Lamine struck again shortly after the restart, converting a penalty after being brought down inside the box by Mandi to put Barça 3-0 ahead.

However, Levante refused to give up and reduced the deficit in the 79th minute through Iván Romero, who capitalised on a defensive mistake before rounding goalkeeper Joan Garcia and scoring into an empty net.

The hosts continued to push, and Brugué scored in the 88th minute from a rebound to make it 3-2, raising hopes of a dramatic comeback.

But Adeyemi had the final say, producing a brilliant solo effort in stoppage time. The German forward ran from the halfway line, beat Mandi with a backheel and calmly finished to secure all three points for Barcelona.

Barcelona will now look to create club history when they face Racing Santander at Spotify Camp Nou on Wednesday. A victory would give them seven wins from seven matches at the start of a season for the first time in their history. (ANI)

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