India women cricket team defended their gold medal at Asian Games 2026 thanks to brilliant show by Smriti Mandhana, Shree Charani and Deepti Sharma in final vs Sri Lanka.
Published: September 29, 2026, 2:08 PM IST
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India women cricket team after winning gold medal at Asian Games 2026(Photo: IANS)
ICC T20 rankings: Harmanpreet Kaur’s Team India easily defended their gold medal at the Asian Games 2026 when they hammered Sri Lanka women team in the final match last weekThe gold won by India women’s cricket team is one of only 5 won by the Indians at the Asian Games 2026 till TuesdayBut there was more good news in store for the Indian cricketers as star spinner NShree Charani created a new world record.
Shree Charani has achieved a career-best 817 rating points in the ICC Women’s T20I Bowling Rankings announced on Tuesday, moving clear of the previous record mark of 806 set by Australia’s Megan Schutt in November 2018These are the highest-ever rating points achieved in Women’s T20I Bowling Rankings.
HISTORY CREATED BY SREE CHARANI
– She has broken the record of Megan Schutt for the highest rating points ever in Women’s T20I bowling ranking.
Coming from Andhra Pradesh, just 22 years old, she has achieved the peak in T20Ispic.twitter.com/FxVtcKdQa8
— Johns(@CricCrazyJohns) September 29, 2026
The Delhi Capitals left-arm spinner was India’s go-to bowler in their recent triumphant run to an eighth Women’s Asia Cup title followed by a gold medal-winning campaign at the Asian Games 2026 days laterShree Charani took 12 wickets across the ACC Women’s Asia Cup 2026, including 4/20 in the final against Sri Lanka as India completed a 72-run win to lift the trophy for the eighth time.
At the Asian Games 2026 in Japan, Shree Charani took career-best figures of 4/10 against hosts Japan to send India into the semi-finals, then claimed two wickets as India beat Sri Lanka by 147 runs in the gold-medal match on 22 September that carried her rating to its 817 peak.
The 22-year-old from Andhra Pradesh has claimed 62 wickets in just 33 T20I matches at an amazing average of 12.56.
Deepti Sharma rises to third place in T20I bowling rankings
UP Warriorz all-rounder Deepti Sharma picked three wickets in the Asian Games 2026 final against Sri LankaThis has taken her to 754 points in the T20I Bowling Rankings, with England’s Sophie Ecclestone third on 723.
Among the batters, opener and vice-captain Smriti Mandhana returnd to the top five of the ICC Women’s T20I Batting RankingsThe left-handed star scored 79 in India’s win over Sri Lanka in the Asian Games final.
The ODI series between Zimbabwe and West Indies in Harare produced other impactful movements in the rankingsPlayers from both sides made gains, in a series that’s presently tied at 1-1Hayley Matthews rose three places to fourth in the ODI Batting Rankings with 711 points, just behind her career-best rating of 714This rise came on the back of a record knock of 182 in the first ODI.
Teammate Realeanna Grimmond (270 points) jumped 34 spots to joint 102nd.
Australia’s Ashleigh Gardner remains top of the ODI All-Rounder Rankings on 497 points, with Hayley Matthews leading the equivalent T20I list on 502Alana King (753 points) tops the ODI Bowling Rankings, while Beth Mooney (785) has led the T20I Batting Rankings since reclaiming it from teammate Georgia Voll (779) after Player-of-the-Tournament heroics in the T20 World Cup final, and Smriti Mandhana (790) holds the ODI Batting summit by the same eight-point margin over Laura Wolvaardt (782).
