In a recent announcement by the Asian Cricket Council (ACC), the teams and pools for Women’s Asia Cup Rising Stars 2026 are revealed, as a highly expected Pakistan-India encounter in the group stage of the tournament has been scheduled.
Eight teams will take part in Bangkok, Thailand from the 13th to the 22nd of February. It is a tournament that highlights up-and-coming female teams in the Asian continent, a tournament that acts as the next step towards playing for their countries’ senior teams.
According to the ACC, Group A teams include Pakistan and India, as well as the United Arab Emirates and Nepal. Group B will see Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, and Malaysia, with the host Thailand completing this line-up. Such an arrangement holds bright prospects for exciting matches, and the highlight will be the Pakistan vs. India encounter.
The much-awaited encounter between the age-old rivals is scheduled to take place on February 15 and will receive widespread notice despite the competition being focused on development. The Pakistan and Indian encounters always tend to have some additional hype associated with them because of the age-old cricketing rivalry existing between the two nations.
The Pakistani team will begin their campaign in the Rising Stars tournament with a match against Nepal on the 13th of February and then continue with a match against the UAE as they complete the group stage phase. The Indians will make their beginning with a match against the UAE and then proceed with a match against Nepal before the encounter with the Pakistani side on the 15th of February.
The group stage matches continue until February 18, and the best two teams in each group qualify to take part in the semifinals, all set to take place on February 20. The final would be the last event to take place, closing the 10-day tournament.
These have not been communicated for venue specifics and broadcasting details for both Bangkok and elsewhere, although what has been expressed by officials is that the Rising Stars series represents a very important plank of a more general strategy of developing women’s cricket in Asia. The object is to provide young cricketers with regular and competitive cricket opportunities, especially those from associate and emerging cricket nations. Lately, the ACC has shown more interests in tournaments of women in terms of their respective ages in order to close the gap between the current powerhouses and new comers. The 2026 Rising Stars tournaments are to continue such interests as many teams rely on their performances to advance women to the international level of their countries.
