The schedule for cricket events at the 2026 Asian Games in Aichi-Nagoya, Japan, has been announced, with defending champions India receiving direct entry to the quarter-finals in both the men’s and women’s T20 tournaments. The cricket will be played in the T20 format and will be all international. The women’s competition will take place from September 17 to 22, while the men’s tournament will take place from September 24 to October 1 at the Korogi Athletic Park in Aichi Prefecture.India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh were all placed in the men’s quarter-finals according to their rankings. The remaining four quarter-final places will be decided through a preliminary stage with six teams divided into two groups.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 qualify for the quarter-finals. Since India and Pakistan are on opposite sides of the draw, the two rivals can only meet if they both reach the semi-finals or the final.India will face one of the teams qualified from the preliminary round in the quarter-finals.
The women’s team starts against Japan
The Indian women’s team will begin their title defense against hosts Japan in the quarterfinals. If India win, they will face either Bangladesh or China in the semi-finals.The other quarter-final matches will see Sri Lanka take on Malaysia, while Pakistan will play Thailand. India aims to retain the gold medals won in the men’s and women’s competitions at the 2023 Hangzhou Asian Games.