New Delhi, Jan 19 (IANS) The Women’s Asia Cup Rising Stars tournament will be held in Bangkok, Thailand, from February 13-22, the Asian Cricket Council (ACC) said on its social media accounts on Monday.

The tournament, scheduled in the T20 format, aims to highlight emerging women’s cricket talent from the ‘A’ teams of four full-member nations with ODI status and four top associate teams from the Asian region.

The event was originally scheduled to begin on June 6 in Sri Lanka last year, but was postponed at the request of Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) President Shammi Silva due to adverse weather conditions and health concerns related to the spread of chikungunya in the island country.

As per the schedule released by the ACC, India ‘A’ will be in Group A alongside Pakistan ‘A’, UAE and Nepal. Bangladesh ‘A’, Sri Lanka ‘A’, Malaysia and Bangladesh will form Group B. India will begin their campaign against the UAE on February 13, before taking on Pakistan ‘A’ on February 15 and facing Nepal on February 17.

The top two teams from each group will advance to the semi-finals, scheduled for February 20. The title clash between the semi-final winners will take place on February 22. IANS understands that the announcement of the India ‘A’ squad for the competition may be made in the coming days.

The inaugural edition of the tournament was held in 2023, with all matches played at the Mission Road Ground in Kowloon, Hong Kong. Thailand A had to withdraw shortly before the tournament began due to visa issues and were replaced by Nepal.

Heavy rain caused major disruption, with seven of the 12 scheduled first-round matches abandoned. One semi-final was also washed out. The tournament concluded with Shweta Sehrawat-led India ‘A’ claiming the title after defeating Bangladesh ‘A’ by 31 runs in the final.

--IANS

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