Defending champions India have learned their path in the cricket competition at the Aichi-Nagoya 2026 Asian Games after the official tournament draw was conducted on Thursday. The Indian women’s team will begin its title defence against hosts Japan in the quarter-finals, while the men’s team has received direct entry into the knockout stage and will face a qualifier yet to be determined.
India’s women, who won the gold medal at the Hangzhou Asian Games in 2023, will take on Japan in the last-eight stage of the T20 tournament. If Harmanpreet Kaur’s side secures victory, it will advance to the semi-finals, where it will face either Bangladesh or China, both of whom are in the same half of the draw.
The remaining women’s quarter-final fixtures will see Sri Lanka play Malaysia and Pakistan face Thailand, with the winners progressing to the second semi-final. The tournament is expected to feature strong competition as leading Asian cricket nations compete for the continental title.
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In the men’s competition, India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh have all qualified directly for the quarter-finals based on their seeding. Their opponents will emerge from a preliminary qualifying round featuring Afghanistan, Japan and Nepal in Group A, and Hong Kong China, Malaysia and Oman in Group B. The top two teams from each group will advance to the knockout stage.
The women’s cricket competition is scheduled to be held from September 17 to 22, followed by the men’s tournament from September 24 to October 1. All matches will be played in the T20 format with full international status at Korogi Athletic Park in Aichi Prefecture.
India will be led by experienced captains in both events, with Harmanpreet Kaur captaining the women’s side alongside vice-captain Smriti Mandhana. The men’s team will be led by Shreyas Iyer, with Tilak Varma serving as vice-captain, while young batting sensation Vaibhav Sooryavanshi has also been included in the 15-member squad. Cricket’s return to the Asian Games continues its growing global profile ahead of the sport’s inclusion in the 2028 Los Angeles Olympic Games.
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