Asian Games 2026: India's cricket fixtures confirmed (men and women)
What's the story
The Indian men's and women's cricket teams will directly enter the quarter-finals of the 2026 Asian Games in Aichi-Nagoya, Japan. The schedule for both tournaments was announced on Thursday. The women's competition is slated from September 17-22, while the men's tournament will be held from September 24 to October 1. Four years ago, India had clinched gold medals in both categories.
Matchup
Women's tournament quarter-finals
The women's cricket quarter-finals will see India take on Japan. Other matches include Bangladesh vs China, Sri Lanka vs Malaysia, and Pakistan vs Thailand.
The semi-finals will feature the winners of these matches with India/Japan facing off against Bangladesh/China and Sri Lanka/Malaysia taking on Pakistan/Thailand in knockout rounds leading up to the final showdown for gold medal glory.
Tournament structure
Men's tournament group stage and knockout rounds
The men's cricket tournament at the Asian Games will be divided into two groups.
Group A comprises Afghanistan, Japan, and Nepal, while Group B has Hong Kong China, Malaysia, and Oman.
The top teams from these groups will advance to the quarter-finals where they will face the seeded teams for a spot in the semi-finals leading up to a potential gold medal match.
India, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and Pakistan are the seeded sides.
Squad
Shreyas Iyer to lead Indian men's cricket team in Japan
Shreyas Iyer will lead the Indian cricket team in Japan at the Asian Games 2026.
Jasprit Bumrah's inclusion lends a solid experience to the side, which also features regulars Abhishek Sharma, Sanju Samson, Ishan Kishan, Axar Patel, Washington Sundar, Varun Chakravarthy and Ravi Bishnoi.
India squad for Asian Games: Shreyas Iyer (captain), Abhishek Sharma, Sanju Samson (wicketkeeper), Ishan Kishan (wicketkeeper), Shivam Dube, Tilak Varma (vice-captain), Nitish Kumar Reddy, Axar Patel, Washington Sundar, Varun Chakravarthy, Ravi Bishnoi, Jasprit Bumrah, Harshit Rana, Arshdeep Singh, Vaibhav Sooryavanshi.