Asian Games 2026 cricket schedule announced, India vs Pakistan clash has a condition

The cricket schedule for the 2026 Asian Games in Japan has been unveiled, setting the stage for the sport’s fourth appearance at the continental showpiece following its previous editions at Guangzhou 2010, Incheon 2014, and Hangzhou 2023. India will enter the multi-sport event as the reigning gold medalists in both the men’s and women’s events.

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Cricket schedule for Asian Games 2026 released

Set to be played in the T20 format, all matches in both divisions will carry official T20 International (T20I) status. The action will unfold at the Korogi Athletic Park in Aichi prefecture, starting with the women’s event from September 17 to 22, followed immediately by the men’s competition running from September 24 through October 1.

Talking about Men's cricket fixture, the top-tier sides, India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, and Bangladesh, have been granted direct entry into the quarter-finals as seeded teams. The four remaining places in the last eight will be filled through a preliminary group stage featuring six nations. Group A features Afghanistan, Nepal, and host nation Japan, while Group B comprises Hong Kong China, Malaysia, and Oman, with the top two sides from each pool moving on to the knockouts.

Men's team schedule:

Group A
Afghanistan
Japan
Nepal

Group B
Hong Kong China
Malaysia
Oman

Quarter-finals (September 28-29)
India vs TBD
Pakistan vs TBD
Sri Lanka vs TBD
Bangladesh vs TBD

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Similarly, Indian women’s team will skip the early rounds, opening their campaign directly in the quarter-finals against hosts Japan.

Should India overcome Japan, they will advance to face either Bangladesh or China in the semi-finals. The remaining quarter-final matchups in the women's draw will see Sri Lanka go head-to-head with Malaysia, while Pakistan square off against Thailand.

Women's team schedule:

India vs Japan
Bangladesh vs China
Sri Lanka vs Malaysia
Pakistan vs Thailand

Semi-finals:

India/Japan vs Bangladesh/China
Sri Lanka/Malaysia vs Pakistan/Thailand

India's Men’s squad for Asian Games:

Shreyas Iyer, Tilak Varma, Ravi Bishnoi, Abhishek Sharma, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Jasprit Bumrah, Sanju Samson, Axar Patel, Harshit Rana, Ishan Kishan, Washington Sundar, Arshdeep Singh, Shivam Dube, Varun Chakravarthy, Vaibhav Sooryavanshi.

India's Women’s squad for Asian Games:

Harmanpreet Kaur (Captain), Smriti Mandhana (Vice-Captain), Shafali Verma, Jemimah Rodrigues, Deepti Sharma, Richa Ghosh (WK), G. Kamalini (WK), Bharti Fulmali, Sree Charani, Renuka Thakur, Kranti Gaud, Arundhati Reddy, Shreyanka Patil*, Radha Yadav, Nandni Sharma.