Women's Asia Cup 2022: 3 reasons why India will be favorites for the tournament

India will begin their Women's Asia Cup 2022 campaign against Sri Lanka on Saturday (October 1) at the Sylhet International Cricket Stadium in Bangladesh.

The Women in Blue have won the tournament a record six times already and will be gunning for the title once more. They lost in the final of the tournament in a thrilling contest against Bangladesh in 2018.

The tournament was due to take place in 2020 but was postponed due to the Covid-19 outbreak before eventually being canceled. The seven teams participating in this year's tournament will play in a round-robin format with the semi-finals set for October 13 and the finals on October 15.

While there will be a few challenges for the Indian side, Harmanpreet Kaur and Co. will be starting as tournament favorites. Here, we take a look at three reasons why:

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#1 Renuka Singh Thakur's form

Renuka Singh Thakur has emerged as one of India's brightest sparks in recent times, especially keeping the recent retirement of Jhulan Goswami in mind. The Himachal Pradesh bowler has been sensational ever since making her debut for the national side, taking 33 wickets in 21 white-ball matches.

Her record includes five four-wicket hauls in limited overs cricket, proving that she has been a wicket-taker for the team. Her most notable performance came against Australia at the Commonwealth Games when she recorded figures of 4/18 in the tournament opener.

Renuka hasn't looked back since and has only grown from stride to stride. She only took one wicket in the T20I series against England recently but roared back in the ODI series. She was the leading wicket-taker in the three-match series, bagging eight wickets in three games.

The right-arm pacer is now the spearhead of India's bowling unit, having slowly but steadily become a consistent feature in the side. The team will hope that she can continue her excellent wicket-taking form in the Asia Cup 2022.

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#2 India's power-packed batting unit

With all due respect to their opponents, this Indian side is slightly superior in the batting department than most of the other sides. Thailand have Natthakan Chantham as their standout batter, while Sri Lanka and Pakistan have Chamari Athapaththu and Bismah Maroof, respectively.

What these sides don't have, though, is the kind of firepower Women in Blue have in their middle and top order. That's not to say the other teams don't have any batters who can hit the ball a long way. It's only to imply that the six-time champions can have more than a few if they want to.

They have Shafali Verma at the top of the order, who will be trusted to set the tone for the side, despite her recent struggles. With Harmanpreet Kaur and Richa Ghosh in the middle order, India have two significant power-hitters in their ranks.

Don't forget two domestic stars, Kiran Navgire and Sabhhineni Meghana, who have been patiently waiting in the wings for their opportunity. Safe to say, India have one of the most powerpacked lineups in the tournament.

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#1 The team has been on a good run in recent times

Harmanpreet Kaur's side have been on a really good run in 2022. They won the three-match T20I series 2-1 in Sri Lanka earlier this year before heading into the Commonwealth Games. The team won three games in that tournament too, stumbling at the last hurdle in the final against Australia.

Earlier this month, the Women in Blue lost their three-match T20I series against England but responded strongly with a 3-0 cleansweep in the ODI series. Ever since Harmanpreet Kaur took over the leadership role six years ago, India have been a consistent team, reaching two finals and one semi-final in major tournaments.

Despite going through a bit of a transition in recent times, the team is shaping up nicely ahead of the Asia Cup. With six months to go until the T20 World Cup next year, the six-time Asia Cup champions will look to make it to seventh heaven in two weeks' time.