Top News

• Will India-Pakistan meet again?
• Schedule of women’s and men’s cricket team announced
• In the men’s group, India directly into the quarterfinals

The official draw for the Achi-Nagoya 2026 Asian Games cricket tournament was announced on Thursday (23). Due to this draw, the schedule for the matches of the defending champions India’s men’s and women’s teams has been announced. The Indian women’s team will play their first match against the hosts Japan. Team India will enter the field to defend its title. Whereas the men’s team has decided its place in the quarter-finals directly on the basis of seeding.

Cricket News: Jos Buttler’s dominance in T20 cricket; Chris Gayle’s record destroyed!

In the men’s group, India directly into the quarterfinals

In the men’s tournament group, India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh have qualified directly for the quarter-finals due to their top seeding. However, their opponents are yet to be determined. The remaining four spots will be decided by qualifying matches. Group ‘A’ includes Afghanistan, Japan and Nepal, while Group ‘B’ includes Hong Kong, China, Malaysia and Oman. The top two teams from each group will advance to the quarterfinals and face the seeded teams.

India-Pakistan match?

This means that rivals India and Pakistan can play only one match against each other, either in the semi-final or the final. The match between arch-rivals India and Pakistan will not take place in the preliminary round. Both these teams will face each other if they reach the semifinals or finals.

The men’s competition will be held from September 24 to October 1. All matches will be played in the T20 format at Korogi Athletic Park in Aichi Prefecture and will be of full international standard. The team will be captained by Shreyas Iyer while Tilak Verma will be the vice-captain. Young batsman Vaibhav Suryavanshi is also included in the 15-member men’s squad.

Cricket will be part of the Asian Games for the fourth time. Cricket was previously included in 2010 Guangzhou, 2014 Incheon and 2023 Hangzhou. Last time, India won gold medals in both men’s and women’s categories.

Women’s team’s debut match against Japan

In the women’s group too, India has secured a direct entry into the quarter-finals. Team India led by Harmanpreet Kaur will play their first match against hosts Japan. If India wins this match, they will face either Bangladesh or China in the semi-finals. In the other quarter-final, Sri Lanka will face Malaysia, while Pakistan will face Thailand.

Asian Games 2026 Men’s Cricket Schedule

• Group A: Afghanistan, Japan, Nepal
• Group B: Hong Kong, China, Malaysia, Oman

Quarter Final Match Schedule

• Qualifier against India
• Qualifier against Pakistan
• Qualifier against Sri Lanka
• Qualifier against Bangladesh

Asian Games 2026 Women’s Cricket Quarter Finals Schedule

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

Indian Men’s Team for Asian Games: Shreyas Iyer (captain), Tilak Verma, Ravi Bishnoi, Abhishek Sharma, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Jasprit Bumrah, Sanju Samson, Akshar Patel, Harshit Rana, Ishan Kishan, Washington Sundar, Arshdeep Singh, Shivam Dubey, Varun Chakraborty and Vaibhav Suryavanshi.

Indian Women’s Team for Asian Games: Harmanpreet Kaur (captain), Smriti Mandhana (vice-captain), Shafali Verma, Jemimah Rodriguez, Deepti Sharma, Richa Ghosh (wicketkeeper), G. Kamalini (wicketkeeper), Bharti Phulmali, Sri Charani, Renuka Thakur, Kranti Goud, Arundhati Reddy, Shreyanka Patil, Radha Yadav and Nandani Sharma

Virat Kohli supports Jantar-Mantar student movement? Confusion Over Viral Tweets; The truth came out