Indian Cricket at Asian Games 2026: Japan Men’s and Women’s Team Full Schedule, Date, IST Time, Venues

Organizers of the 2026 Asian Games have released the official draw for the men’s and women’s cricket competitions, setting the stage for another exciting T20 tournament featuring the continent’s top teams.

Cricket, which returns to the Hangzhou Asian Games in 2023, will again be played in its shortest format at the Aichi-Nagoya competition in Japan, with both the men’s and women’s events expected to attract significant attention.

India is the reigning gold medalist in both the men’s and women’s categories. The Indian men’s team secured direct qualification to the quarter-finals along with Pakistan, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka. India will take on one of the teams that qualify from the preliminary round, in which six teams will compete.

In the preliminary round, tournament hosts Japan were placed in Group A along with Afghanistan and Nepal, while Hong Kong, China, Malaysia and Oman were placed in Group B. The top two teams from each group will advance to the quarter-finals. The men’s competition is scheduled to take place from September 24 to October 3.

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India is scheduled to play the quarter-finals on September 28, while Sri Lanka and Bangladesh will take part in the tournament a day later. The semi-finals are scheduled for October 1 and the gold and bronze medal matches will be held on October 3, concluding the cricket competition.

The draw for the tournament also opened up the possibility of another India-Pakistan blockbuster. However, the two rivals find themselves in opposite halves of the playoffs, meaning they will only be able to meet in the final if both teams win all of their matches leading up to the title showdown.

New T20I captain Shreyas Iyer will lead the Men in Blue in Japan. The team also includes promising teenager Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, who scored a historic 18-ball knock in the first T20I against Zimbabwe in Harare on Thursday.

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The team also includes stars like Sanju Samson and Abhishek Sharma, while Jasprit Bumrah, Arshdeep Singh and Harshit Rana will be India’s top three players. Players like Varun Chakravarthy and Axar Patel are leading their bowling attack.

On the other hand, the Indian women’s team will begin their campaign on the opening day of the tournament with a quarter-final clash against hosts Japan.

Bangladesh will face China, Sri Lanka have drawn with Malaysia and Pakistan will take on Thailand in the remaining eight matches. The four winners will advance to the semi-finals on September 20, followed by the bronze medal match and final two days later.

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Harmanpreet Kaur will lead the Indian women’s team, while Smriti Mandhana will be her deputy. The team also includes other regulars like Shafali Verma and Jemima Rodrigues.

Renuka Singh Thakur is expected to lead India’s attack at the 2026 Asian Games, with the experienced Deepti Sharma leading a team that will include Radha Yadav, Sri Charani and, fitness permitting, Shreyanka Patil.

Both competitions, which will have full international status, will be held at the Korogi Sports Park in Aichi Prefecture.

Here is the complete schedule for men’s and women’s cricket tournaments at the 2026 Asian Games:

2026 Asian Games Cricket Schedule

Men’s competition (From quarter-finals)

Women’s competition schedule

How to watch the 2026 Asian Games in India?

The 2026 Asian Games, which will be held in Nagoya, Japan from September 19 to October 4, will be broadcast on Sony Sports Network. The live stream will also be available on the Sony LIV app and website.