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The Asian Cricket Council have chosen Terdthai Cricket Ground in Bangkok, Thailand, as the venue for its new look tournament for women’s cricket which gets underway on Friday, 13th February. The A teams of the four Asian powerhouses, India, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka, join forces with the leading Associate countries, Thailand, United Arab Emirates, Nepal and Malaysia in a tournament that will show off the improving standards in women’s international cricket across Asia.
A version of this tournament was held in Hong Kong in 2023 when it was called the ACC Emerging Teams Cup and the four A teams all reached the semi-finals with India A beating Bangladesh A by 31 runs in the final. Three years on the Emerging Teams have been rebranded Rising Stars so there will be a wonderful chance for the cricket followers of Bangkok to watch cricket with some of the most promising women’s cricketers in Asia on display.
The similar men’s tournament was also renamed Asia Cup Rising Stars by ACC and this was hosted by West Eng Park in Doha, Qatar in November 2025 and this witnessed a gripping climax as Bangladesh A overcame India A on a super over in the first semi-final before Pakistan Shaheens beat Sri Lanka A by 6 runs in the second semi-final. The final was another exciting contest as Bangladesh A beat the Shaheens in another super-over finish.
The ACC will be hoping that the Asian women can provide a tournament as exciting as the men did in Doha and the four Associate nations will be hoping that they can make a real breakthrough to reach the semi-finals at least as they go head to head with the four A teams.
Nepal and United Arab Emirates are drawn in Group A alongside the mighty India A and Pakistan A while Thailand and Malaysia will face Bangladesh A and Sri Lanka A in Group B. The four teams in each group will face the other three countries with the teams placed first and second in each group reaching the semi-finals.
Thailand have beaten the full teams of Pakistan. Bangladesh and Sri Lanka in the past and will be keen to return to the form they showed in December 2025 when they won the ICC Women’s Emerging Nations Trophy and followed up by winning two gold medals in the SEA Games when both competitions were also held in Bangkok.
United Arab Emirates will again be looking to make up for the disappointment they felt when they lost out to Nepal and Thailand in the ICC T20 World Cup Asian Qualifiers last May while Nepal are arriving in Bangkok after successfully hosting the ICC Women’sT20 World Cup Global Qualifiers for the first time.
Malaysia reached the final of the ACC Women’s T20 Championship when it was held in Kuala Lumpur in June 2022 to show they could be regarded in the top rank of Associate teams in Asia but it is some of the talent on display in the four A teams that will catch the eye.
All of the four A teams have players in their ranks who have already played for their nations at full level and India A are probably favourites to win the competition as they have several players who have recently played in the Women’s Premier League alongside the best women players in the world and they have another chance to show off their superiority over their Asian rivals.
Over the course of the next 10 days we will see if the A teams from Pakistan, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka can match their Indian rivals, and Thailand, UAE, Nepal and Malaysia have a chance to gain a victory over their more illustrious rivals. There will surely be some attractive cricket on display from the Rising Stars of Asia with the final held at TCG on Sunday 22nd February.