Harmanpreet Kaur leads out the team during game two of the Women's One Day International series between Australia and India at Bellerive Oval on February 27, 2026 in Hobart, Australia. (Photo/Getty Images)India have won seven of the nine Women's Asia Cup editions played so far, across ODI and T20I formats, making them the most successful team in the history of the tournament.Given the historic dominance of the Indian team in the tournament, former India cricketer and ex-women's team coach WV Raman believes anything less than a title in the upcoming 2026 Women's Asia Cup would be a "major disappointment" for Harmanpreet Kaur's team."Pakistan and Sri Lanka will be tough competition for India, and let's not also discount Thailand, because they've shown a lot of enthusiasm, they've shown they've got some real good talent there, and you cannot take them lightly, too. As far as the Indian team is concerned, I think anything less than a victory will be seen as a major disappointment," Raman said in an exclusive interview with TimesofIndia.com, organised by Sony Sports Network.India lost the 2024 Women's Asia Cup final to Chamari Athapaththu's Sri Lanka by eight wickets in Dambulla, and Raman said "India can regain the Asia Cup" in Dubai.However, the road ahead is not as smooth for India as it seems. India have been missing two of their pace-bowling all-rounders, Amanjot Kaur and Kashvee Gautam, for over five months, and just before the Asia Cup they faced another setback as Jemimah Rodrigues was also ruled out of the tournament due to a hamstring injury.Pratika Rawal is in the side, but where should she bat?Pratika Rawal has received her maiden India T20I call-up as Jemimah was ruled out of the tournament, and is expected to walk straight into the playing XI when India face Thailand on Sunday. However, the bigger question is where the right-handed batter fits into India's batting order."Pratika Rawal has done extremely well in Test cricket. She's done well in ODIs, but in T20s, we haven't seen much of her so far. And also the other thing that they need to work out is her slot in the batting order. So where does she bat is something they've got to try and work out," former women's team coach Raman said.Shafali Verma and Smriti Mandhana will most likely not be separated as an opening pair, and Bharti Fulmali and Richa Ghosh could play the role of lower-order enforcers. Captain Harmanpreet Kaur bats at four when Jemimah plays at three in T20Is; however, Raman argued that Kaur should instead bat at three in the Asia Cup."I doubt if they will have Pratika Rawal at number three. I would rather imagine that Harmanpreet Kaur herself might bat at number three because she needs to spend a lot of time there at the crease, have more overs at her disposal to try and pace the innings," WV Raman said in an interview with TimesofIndia.com, adding, "Will India play Pratika at number four is something that will be a big question. As I see it, they need to obviously find ways and methods to use the 20 overs allotted to them in the most productive manner possible. So it's up to them to try and see."Longer rope for FulmaliFulmali ended her seven-year exile from international cricket earlier this year when she was picked for the South Africa tour and was also retained for the T20 World Cup.Among all the batters who have faced at least 100 balls in the Women's Premier League (WPL) since 2024, India's Richa Ghosh (155.05) and Bharti Fulmali (149.76) are at number two and three in terms of the strike rate, respectively.However, India dropped Fulmali from the team after just one innings in the 2026 Women's T20 World Cup where there campaign ended in the group stage.The former India cricketer said that the Women's Asia Cup is the ideal tournament to give Fulmali consistent chances."If they have plans for Fulmali in the near future or for the next couple of years, to be an integral part of the batting unit, then probably this is as good an opportunity as they'll get to try and give her a lot of chances and see how she fares," WV Raman said."Fulmali has the reputation of being a big hitter. She was picked up in the side about six years ago. Then again, she was out in the wilderness. Then again, she's come back, and then she's gone out, and she's come back. I think this is something that needs to be looked at very seriously because you're not doing anybody a favour by just giving them one odd chance here and there sporadically," he added.The former coach of the women's team also emphasized that India should look at the Asia Cup as a tournament where they begin preparation for the 2028 Women's T20 World Cup after their unceremonious group-stage exit in the 2026 T20 World Cup."They (India) can look at this Asia Cup as a platform from which they'll start planning for the next T20 World Cup in terms of planning, in terms of working out different combinations, looking at various options. So that will be a good thing to do starting from this Asia Cup, and even though you can't equate a terrific performance in the T20 World cup to a victory in Asia cup, if they go on to win this Asia cup, as we are expecting them to, it'll provide them some solace after probably the unexpected early exit in the T20 World Cup," WV Raman noted.Tune-In: Watch Women's Asia Cup 2026 live on Sony Sports Ten 1 SD & HD & Sony LIV.