Cricket stars headline India's 492-member squad approved for Asian Games 2026

The Union Sports Ministry has formally cleared a 492-strong Indian delegation, comprising 265 men and 227 women, to compete across 35 sports at the upcoming Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games from September 19 to October 4. While the inclusion of India's men's and women's T20 cricket squads brings star power to the roster, athletics continues to serve as the core of the nation's medal charge, fielding the largest single sport breakdown in the contingent.

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Track and field accounts for 73 total competitors (35 men and 38 women), followed by 40-member hockey representations and 30-athlete squads for both shooting and cricket. Other notable team sizes include kabaddi with 24, rowing with 22, along with 20 athletes apiece for badminton and fencing, 16 for wrestling, and 15 for esports. Clearance details regarding official support staff remain pending.

India's track and field squad features prominent medal contenders, headlined by Olympic and world champion javelin thrower Neeraj Chopra. Joining him in the athletics lineup are standout performers Murali Sreeshankar, Gulveer Singh, Animesh Kujur, Tejaswin Shankar, and hurdler Jyothi Yarraji.

The 30-player overall cricket setup boasts strong national star power. The men's roster features key names including Jasprit Bumrah, Shreyas Iyer, Sanju Samson, Ishan Kishan, Shivam Dube, Axar Patel, Washington Sundar, Tilak Varma, Varun Chakravarthy, Ravi Bishnoi, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Harshit Rana, Abhishek Sharma, Arshdeep Singh, and Vaibhav Sooryavanshi.

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The women's cricket contingent is equally well-represented, led by established international stars Harmanpreet Kaur, Smriti Mandhana, Deepti Sharma, Shafali Varma, Richa Ghosh, and Renuka Thakur. They are joined in the squad by Arundhati Reddy, Bharti Fulmali, Kranti Gaud, Kamalini Gunalan, Sree Charani, Shreyanka Patil, Pratika Rawal, Nandani Sharma, and Radha Yadav.

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India’s 20-member badminton entry features marquee names such as PV Sindhu, Lakshya Sen, and Ayush Shetty in the singles category, alongside key doubles pairs including Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty, as well as Gayatri Gopichand and Treesa Jolly.

Meanwhile, an 11-member boxing squad will represent the country in the ring, spearheaded by Olympic medalist Lovlina Borgohain alongside heavy-hitters Narender Berwal and Jadumani Singh.