Asian Games 2026 Indian Cricket Team, Squad, Schedule, Format and Players

The Asian Games 2026 Indian Cricket Team will compete in Nagoya, Japan, with India defending the gold medals won in both men’s and women’s cricket at the 2022 Asian Games in Hangzhou. The women’s cricket competition is being held from September 17 to 22, while the men’s tournament will run from September 24 to October 3. Both competitions will be played in the T20 format. 

What are the Asian Games?

The Asian Games are a continental multi-sport event held every four years, bringing together athletes from across Asia. The 20th Asian Games, Aichi-Nagoya 2026, are being held in Japan from September 19 to October 4, with competitions taking place across Nagoya and other venues in Aichi Prefecture.

Also Read:- India’s medals at Asian Games 2026

Cricket at the Asian Games

Cricket made its Asian Games debut at Guangzhou 2010. It was also included at Incheon 2014, absent from Jakarta 2018, and returned at Hangzhou 2022. The 2026 edition will therefore mark the fourth appearance of cricket in the last five Asian Games. 

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Asian Games 2026 Cricket Venue

The cricket competition is being played at the Nisshin Cricket Ground in Korogi Sports Park, located in Nisshin on the outskirts of Nagoya. The venue is hosting both the men’s and women’s competitions.

Format and Qualification

The men’s and women’s tournaments follow different competition structures, with the men’s event beginning with a preliminary group stage and the women’s event starting at the quarter-final stage. 

Men’s Competition

The men’s tournament features 10 teams. Six teams begin in the preliminary round, divided into two groups of three.

Group A

• Afghanistan
• Japan
• Nepal

Group B

• Hong Kong, China
• Malaysia
• Oman

The top two teams from each group will qualify for the quarter-finals. India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh have direct entry into the quarter-finals based on their seeding.

ICC Full Members received automatic qualification, along with hosts Japan. Hong Kong, China, Malaysia, Nepal and Oman secured the remaining places through the qualification process.

Also Read:- Asian Games 2026 Medal Tally

Women’s Competition

The women’s tournament features eight teams and begins directly with the quarter-finals. The winners progress to the semi-finals, followed by the bronze-medal and gold-medal matches. 

The participating teams are India, Japan, Bangladesh, China, Sri Lanka, Malaysia, Pakistan and Thailand.

Asian Games 2026 Cricket Schedule

The Asian Games 2026 cricket schedule covers the women’s competition from September 17 to 22 and the men’s tournament from September 24 to October 3. )

Women’s Cricket Schedule

The quarter-final between India and Japan was played on September 18, with India winning by eight wickets. India then defeated Bangladesh by 114 runs in the semi-final on September 20 to reach the gold-medal match against Sri Lanka. 

Men’s Cricket Schedule

The men’s preliminary round will be played from September 24 to 26, followed by the quarter-finals, semi-finals and medal matches. 

Asian Games 2026 Indian Cricket Team

India Men’s Squad

The final Asian Games 2026 Indian Cricket Team men’s squad comprises 14 players:

Shreyas Iyer (Captain), Abhishek Sharma, Sanju Samson (WK), Ishan Kishan (WK), Shivam Dube, Tilak Varma (Vice-Captain), Axar Patel, Washington Sundar, Ravi Bishnoi, Jasprit Bumrah, Arshdeep Singh, Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, Yash Thakur and Vipraj Nigam.

BCCI initially named Harshit Rana and Varun Chakaravarthy in the squad. Harshit Rana was later replaced by Yash Thakur after a rectus femoris strain, while Vipraj Nigam replaced Varun Chakaravarthy after the latter was ruled out with a side strain. Nitish Kumar Reddy was also withdrawn from the Asian Games squad. 

India Women’s Squad

The Asian Games 2026 Indian Cricket Team women’s squad is:

Harmanpreet Kaur (Captain), Smriti Mandhana, Shafali Verma, Pratika Rawal, Deepti Sharma, Richa Ghosh, G. Kamalini, Bharti Fulmali, Sree Charani, Renuka Singh, Kranti Gaud, Arundhati Reddy, Shreyanka Patil, Radha Yadav and Nandni Sharma.

Jemimah Rodrigues was ruled out of the Asian Games because of a high-grade right hamstring tear. Pratika Rawal was named as her replacement.