India, Pakistan Placed on Opposite Sides of Asian Games Draw

India and Pakistan will not face each other multiple times at the Asian Games 2026, with the cricket draw ensuring that the arch-rivals can meet only in a medal match in both the men's and women's competitions.

According to the tournament draw, India and Pakistan have been placed on opposite sides of the men's cricket bracket. This means they cannot meet in the group stage or semi-finals. The two teams can face each other only in the gold-medal match or bronze-medal play-off, provided both reach the corresponding stage. If they fail to reach the same medal match, there will be no India-Pakistan encounter.

The men's cricket competition will feature 10 teams, with India, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka receiving direct entry into the quarter-finals. India have been placed in Quarter-final 2, while Pakistan will play Quarter-final 1, with both matches scheduled for September 28. Afghanistan, Nepal, Hong Kong, China, Japan, Malaysia and Oman will compete in the preliminary stage for the remaining quarter-final places.

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The semi-final structure keeps the rivals separated. The winner of Quarter-final 1 will meet the winner of Quarter-final 3, while the winner of Quarter-final 2 will take on the winner of Quarter-final 4. The semi-finals are scheduled for October 1. Therefore, if India and Pakistan both win their quarter-finals and semi-finals, they could meet only in the gold-medal match on October 3. If both lose their semi-finals, they could instead meet in the bronze-medal play-off on the same day.

A similar arrangement has been made for the women's competition. Top-seeded India will face Japan in the quarter-final, while Pakistan, seeded fourth, will take on Thailand. India could then face Bangladesh or Hong Kong, China in the semi-final, whereas Pakistan could meet Sri Lanka or Malaysia. Consequently, an India-Pakistan women's clash is also possible only in the gold-medal match or bronze-medal play-off, scheduled for September 22.

The Asian Games will be held in Aichi-Nagoya, Japan, from September 19 to October 4, with cricket scheduled from September 17 to October 3. All cricket matches will be played in the T20 format at the Paloma Mizuho Stadium in Nagoya. India have already announced their squads, with Shreyas Iyer set to lead the men's side and Harmanpreet Kaur captaining the women's team.

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