Cricket will be back at the Asian Games 2022 and will be played in the T20 format. The 2022 Asian Games will take place in China’s Zhejiang province’s capital Hangzhou and there will be five co-host cities. The multi-sporting event will take place from September 10 to September 25, 2022.
The last time Asian Games had cricket, was back in 2010. Nine team competed in it. Both men's and women's tournaments were held. In the men's event host nation China, were joined by three of the four ICC Full Members in Asia in Bangladesh, Pakistan and Sri Lanka and Afghanistan. Due to other international commitments, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and Pakistan fielded relatively weaker squads teams whilst India did not compete at all.
Bangladesh defeated Afghanistan in the final event to win the gold medal while the latter won the silver. The bronze went to Pakistan after they beat Sri Lanka in the third-place match.
The tournament will have 40 sports with a total of 61 disciplines, including Olympic sports like swimming, archery, athletics, badminton, equestrian, fencing, football, hockey, judo, kabaddi, and much more. E-sports and breakdancing will debut in the 2022 Asian Games as full medal sports after being approved by the Olympic Council of Asia (OCA) this year.
Except the edition in 1990, India has won at least one gold medal at every Asian Games and always ranked within the top 10 nations of the medal table. India has won a total of 139 gold, 178 silver, and 299 bronze medals at the Asian Games.
India is one of the only seven countries that have competed in all the editions of the Asian Games. India is also a member of the South Asian Zone of the Olympic Council of Asia (OCA).
For the first time in the Asian Games, more than 300 athletes from Oceania countries have been given the chance to compete in the tournament. The Oceania athletes, including those from Australia and New Zealand, will be allowed to compete in five sports: triathlon, athletics, wushu, roller skating, and weightlifting.
Sony Pictures Networks India, (SPN), has acquired the exclusive rights for the 2022 Asian Games from November 2021 to September 2023. This gives SPN exclusive rights to broadcast the 19th edition of the Asian Games on its sports channels across India and other Asian including Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Nepal, Afghanistan, Bhutan, and the Maldives. The tournament will also be available on the OTT platform, Sony LIV.
