Asian Games 2026 Cricket Schedule Announced, 10 Teams To Fight For Gold Medal

The Asian Games cricket schedule was released on Sunday, with matches slated from September 17 to October 3. The Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games, hosted by Japan, will officially run from September 19 to October 4,

though several events will begin earlier.

Cricket at the Games will be played in the T20 format, featuring both men’s and women’s competitions, with all matches scheduled at Korogi Athletic Park in Aichi Prefecture.

The women’s tournament will get underway on September 17, with medal matches beginning on September 22. Eight teams will compete in a direct knockout format starting from the quarterfinals, with India entering as defending champions.

The men’s cricket competition will start on September 24, with the medal matches set for October 3. A total of 10 teams will take part, including three days of preliminary matches before the quarterfinal stage.

As per the format used at the 2023 Asian Games in Hangzhou, the top four seeded teams are expected to advance directly to the quarterfinals, while the remaining six teams will contest preliminary games for the other four spots.

All matchdays will feature double-headers, with morning games starting at 9 AM local time (5:30 AM IST) and afternoon matches beginning at 2 PM local time (10:30 AM IST).

Who participated in the 2023 Asian Games from India?

India sent men’s and women’s teams for the 2023 Asian Games, with specially designed jersies. For the former, a ‘B’ team was included, led by Ruturaj Gaikwad, giving the selectors the chance to test out some new faces. Several players got to make their India debuts on that tour.

They easily beat Nepal and Bangladesh and qualified for the final against Afghanistan, but saw it get washed out due to rain. India were crowned champions by virtue of their global T20 ranking.

India men’s squad for the 2023 edition: Ruturaj Gaikwad (captain), Yashasvi Jaiswal, Rahul Tripathi, Tilak Varma, Rinku Singh, Jitesh Sharma (wicket-keeper), Washington Sundar, Shahbaz Ahmed, Ravi Bishnoi, Avesh Khan, Arshdeep Singh, Mukesh Kumar, Shivam Dube, Prabhsimran Singh (wicket-keeper), Akash Deep

The women’s section was more of a full-strength team. Their match against Malaysia was washed out and they beat Bangladesh by eight wickets in the following clash to qualify for the final against Sri Lanka, where they easily won, too.

India women’s squad for the 2023 edition: Harmanpreet Kaur (captain), Smriti Mandhana (vice-captain), Shafali Verma, Jemimah Rodrigues, Deepti Sharma, Richa Ghosh (wicket-keeper), Amanjot Kaur, Devika Vaidya, Pooja Vastrakar, Titas Sadhu, Rajeshwari Gayakwad, Minnu Mani, Kanika Ahuja, Uma Chetry (wicket-keeper), Anusha Bareddy