Asian Games Cricket 2026: Schedule, Teams, Squads, Format, Venue and India’s Campaign

Cricket returns to the Asian Games in 2026 as part of the Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games in Japan, with both men’s and women’s T20 competitions taking place at the newly developed Kōrogi Athletic Park in Nisshin, Aichi Prefecture. The cricket programme began with the women’s tournament on September 17 and continues with the men’s competition from September 24 to October 3. 

India enter the Asian Games Cricket 2026 as defending champions in both men’s and women’s cricket after winning both gold medals at the Hangzhou Asian Games. The 2026 edition is particularly significant because it brings established Asian cricket nations together with emerging teams, while allowing Japan to showcase cricket on home soil.

Asian Games Cricket 2026: Key Details

The official Aichi-Nagoya organisers have confirmed that cricket will be played in the T20 format. Kōrogi Athletic Park was developed specifically to provide a suitable international cricket facility for the Games. 

Asian Games Cricket 2026 Schedule

The two cricket tournaments have different formats. The women’s competition is a straight knockout tournament beginning at the quarter-final stage, while the men’s event starts with a preliminary group phase.

Women’s Cricket Schedule

The women’s tournament features eight teams: India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Japan, China, Malaysia and Thailand.

India began their campaign against hosts Japan on September 18. The defending champions won that quarter-final by eight wickets, according to the Japan Cricket Association. 

The women’s gold-medal match is scheduled for September 22, meaning the women’s Asian Games cricket champion will be decided before the men’s tournament begins. 

Men’s Cricket Schedule

The men’s competition has 10 teams. Six teams begin in the preliminary round, while India, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka enter directly in the quarter-finals.

The official competition schedule confirms that the men’s preliminary matches are divided between Group A and Group B, with the top two teams from each group advancing to the quarter-finals. 

Asian Games Cricket 2026 Men’s Teams

The 10 men’s teams are:

• India
• Pakistan
• Sri Lanka
• Bangladesh
• Afghanistan
• Japan
• Nepal
• Hong Kong, China
• Malaysia
• Oman

Men’s Groups

Group A

• Afghanistan
• Japan
• Nepal

Group B

• Hong Kong, China
• Malaysia
• Oman

India, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka are the four seeded teams and therefore do not need to play the preliminary round. They advance directly to the quarter-finals. 

This structure means the six unseeded teams have to play for four available knockout positions, making the preliminary stage particularly important.

India Squad for Asian Games Cricket 2026

India have named strong men’s and women’s squads for the Asian Games.

India Men’s Squad

India’s men’s team is led by Shreyas Iyer. The squad includes:

• Shreyas Iyer (captain)
• Tilak Varma
• Ravi Bishnoi
• Jasprit Bumrah
• Vipraj Nigam
• Shivam Dube
• Ishan Kishan
• Axar Patel
• Harshit Rana
• Sanju Samson
• Abhishek Sharma
• Arshdeep Singh
• Washington Sundar
• Vaibhav Sooryavanshi

The squad combines established international players with younger players, including Vaibhav Sooryavanshi. The ICC’s tournament guide confirms the 15-member squad and Iyer’s captaincy. 

India’s men’s team will play its first match on September 28, when it faces the runner-up from Group A in the quarter-final. 

India Women’s Squad

The women’s team is captained by Harmanpreet Kaur. The squad includes:

• 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
• Nandni Sharma

The ICC lists this squad for India’s title defence in the women’s competition. 

Venue: Kōrogi Athletic Park

All Asian Games cricket matches in 2026 are being staged at Kōrogi Athletic Park in Nisshin, Aichi Prefecture.

The facility features a natural-grass cricket pitch developed to meet international competition requirements. The venue is located within Korogi Sports Park and was selected as the dedicated cricket venue for the Games. 

The ICC also reported that temporary stands were installed at the venue, with capacity for approximately 2,000 spectators. A test event was held ahead of the Asian Games to assess the facility. 

The venue’s pitch has also attracted attention because of its playing characteristics. According to the ICC, the surface has been described as offering a combination of bounce and turn.

Asian Games Cricket 2026 Format

Both tournaments are played in the T20 format, with each team receiving one innings of 20 overs. 

However, the competition structures differ.

Women’s tournament: Eight teams enter directly into the quarter-finals. The winners advance to the semi-finals, followed by the bronze-medal and gold-medal matches.

Men’s tournament: Six teams first compete in two groups. The top two from each group progress to the quarter-finals, where they join India, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka.

This gives the seeded men’s teams a shorter route to the medal matches, while the other six sides must play at least two preliminary matches before reaching the knockout stage.

India’s Asian Games Cricket Record

India are the defending champions in both men’s and women’s cricket.

At the previous Asian Games in Hangzhou, held in 2023, India won gold in both competitions. The men’s final against Afghanistan was abandoned because of rain, with India awarded gold based on their higher seeding. The women’s team defeated Sri Lanka in the final to win gold. 

Cricket has previously appeared at the Asian Games in 2010, 2014 and 2022/23, with the Aichi-Nagoya edition representing its fourth appearance in the competition. Bangladesh won the men’s gold in 2010, Sri Lanka in 2014 and India in 2023. 

Afghanistan have been particularly consistent in the men’s event, reaching three successive finals before 2026 without winning gold.

Asian Games Cricket 2026: Where to Watch

For Indian viewers, current tournament listings identify Sony Sports Network and SonyLIV as the broadcast and streaming platforms for the cricket competition. 

Match timings generally fall in the morning and late morning in India because the games are being played in Japan. Preliminary men’s matches are scheduled around 5:30 AM and 10:30 AM IST, while knockout matches have slightly different timings. 

Conclusion

Asian Games Cricket 2026 brings men’s and women’s T20 cricket back to the continental multi-sport stage in Japan. With 10 men’s teams and eight women’s teams competing at Kōrogi Athletic Park, the tournament combines established cricket powers such as India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh with emerging teams from across Asia.

India enter the competition as defending champions in both categories, while the men’s tournament introduces a group-stage route for six teams before the quarter-finals. With the women’s medals being decided on September 22 and the men’s final scheduled for October 3, cricket will remain an important part of the Aichi-Nagoya 2026 sporting programme. 

FAQs About Asian Games Cricket 2026