# Najiha Alvi ruled out of Women’s Asia Cup, Sadaf Shamas replaces her 2026-08-25T04:26:51+00:00 | Sports | Indian Opinion Desk Corroboration: 1 independent outlet Pakistan batter Najiha Alvi has been ruled out of the upcoming ACC Women's T20 Asia Cup due to a knee injury. The Pakistan Cricket Board named right-handed batter Sadaf Shamas as her replacement in the squad. The tournament is scheduled to be held in Bangladesh from July 2026. Pakistan will be aiming to improve on their best finish of semi-final appearances in 2012 and 2016. Bangladesh are the defending champions. No timeline was given for Alvi's recovery. The squad is expected to depart for Bangladesh ahead of the tournament in the coming weeks. ## Indian Opinion Analysis The tournament, originally scheduled for July 2024 in Sri Lanka, was postponed to 2026 after Sri Lanka Cricket requested a delay, citing scheduling clashes. The ACC eventually moved the next edition to Bangladesh. Pakistan have never won the Women's Asia Cup, their best finish was the semi-finals in 2012 and 2016. Bangladesh are the defending champions. With Alvi, a key middle-order batter, ruled out, Pakistan's depth will be tested early. The squad leaves for Bangladesh in the first week of April, and the team's first group match will be the most immediate test of how the batting order reshuffles. ## Coverage - sports.ndtv.com Leads with the injury and replacement rather than the tournament build-up, keeping it a straight personnel update This story was synthesised by AI from the source linked above. Tags: ACC Women's Asia Cup, Bangladesh, Pakistan Women Canonical: https://indianopinion.org/najiha-alvi-ruled-out-of-womens-asia-cup-sadaf-shamas-replaces-her/ License: Summary and commentary (c) Indian Opinion, reusable with attribution. Facts belong to the linked sources. Cite: https://indianopinion.org/najiha-alvi-ruled-out-of-womens-asia-cup-sadaf-shamas-replaces-her/#story-in-brief Review state: restored archive article, accurate at time of publication, not offered to search indexes. How this brief was made: an AI model read the report linked above and wrote this summary and analysis, which were published automatically. Published briefs are sampled every hour by an automated quality check; the editor verifies its findings and approves corrections, and corrected briefs carry a dated correction line. We do no original reporting. Methodology: https://indianopinion.org/ai-use-policy/