Asian Games cricket returns from September 19 to October 4, 2026, in Nagoya, Japan, with both the men’s and women’s T20 tournaments running side by side, and India walking in as defending champion in both events. Matches are already underway across the group stage, with India’s opening fixtures drawing the biggest crowds on the continent.
Key Takeaways
- Asian Games cricket 2026 is being held in Nagoya from September 19 to October 4, in the T20 format for both men and women.
- India defends the gold it won in both categories at the 2023 Hangzhou Games, its most recent Asian Games cricket outing.
- India’s men’s squad leans on domestic-circuit players because the senior side is tied up in a home T20I series against Afghanistan; the women’s squad travels closer to full strength.
- China’s women pulled out of the tournament without playing a single match, a decision that has drawn far less scrutiny than it would have if it involved a men’s team.
What Is Asian Games Cricket 2026 and When Does It Start?
Cricket has had an on-off relationship with the Asian Games. It first featured in Guangzhou in 2010, vanished for two editions, then came back for the pandemic-delayed Hangzhou Games that were actually staged in 2023. Nagoya 2026 is only its third outing, and organisers have again kept both men’s and women’s draws in the fast T20 format to fit the tight multi-sport window.
| Detail | Information |
| Host city | Nagoya, Japan |
| Dates | September 19 – October 4, 2026 |
| Format | T20, men’s and women’s tournaments |
| Reigning champion | India (both men’s and women’s gold, Hangzhou 2023) |
| Governing oversight | Olympic Council of Asia, in coordination with national boards including the BCCI |
Both draws are grouped into pools that feed a Super Four or straight semi-final structure before the medal matches, a format broadly similar to what fans saw in Hangzhou. India, as defending champion in Asian Games cricket, starts as favourite in both brackets, though Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and Afghanistan have all strengthened their T20 setups since 2023.
How the Schedule Is Structured
- Group-stage matches spread across the first week, with India playing regional rivals in both men’s and women’s pools.
- Top finishers advance to semi-finals in the second week.
- Bronze and gold medal matches close out the tournament just before the Games conclude on October 4.
- Live scores and the points table are being tracked in real time by the Olympic Council’s official partners.
What Is India’s Squad for the Men’s and Women’s Teams?
This is where the story gets interesting, and where it starts to say something about who India actually prioritises. India’s senior men’s team is currently busy at home, playing a T20I series against Afghanistan in Delhi, where Abhishek Sharma has been rewriting powerplay records. That clash in the calendar means the Asian Games men’s squad, much like in 2023, is expected to be built around India’s domestic and A-team depth rather than the first-choice XI.
It worked last time. A squad without most of the senior names still walked away with gold in Hangzhou, which is either proof that India’s bench is absurdly strong, or proof that the Asian Games medal doesn’t move selectors the way a bilateral series does. According to the tournament records maintained on Wikipedia’s page on the 2023 Asian Games cricket event, that men’s title came against Afghanistan in the final, played by a team most casual fans couldn’t name.
The women’s squad is a different story. With no overlapping ICC event or bilateral series pulling players away, India has generally sent something close to its first-choice T20 unit for Asian Games cricket, because for years it’s been one of the few multi-sport stages where the women’s team gets a medal ceremony, a flag, and a headline that isn’t buried under men’s cricket news.
Why Asian Games Cricket Still Runs on Different Rules for Men and Women
Here’s the part that should bother more people than it does. On paper, the BCCI closed the pay gap in October 2022, equalising match fees for centrally contracted men and women players for the first time. That was a genuinely good, overdue move. But equal match fees on a contract sheet don’t automatically translate into equal team strength sent to every tournament, equal broadcast slots, or equal column inches when results come in.
Look at how the two brackets get talked about. Men’s Asian Games cricket news competes for space with a live bilateral series, IPL auction chatter and record-breaking powerplay innings. Women’s Asian Games cricket news, even when India is defending a gold medal, mostly survives on a handful of wire reports and a few dedicated sports pages. The medal weighs the same in both cases. The coverage doesn’t.
Then there’s China’s exit. China’s women withdrew from Asian Games cricket without playing a single game, reportedly over logistical and selection issues back home, according to reports circulating in the Indian sports press this week. That is, frankly, a bigger story than most outlets have treated it as. A team walking away from a continental tournament before a ball is bowled would be front-page news in the men’s game. In the women’s draw, it barely dented the schedule.
The Real Score: Coverage Versus Medal Count
This is the original, uncomfortable comparison worth sitting with. India’s women’s team has been just as successful at major multi-sport events as the men’s side, arguably more consistent, yet a quick scan of this week’s sports headlines shows men’s cricket stories outnumbering women’s Asian Games cricket stories by roughly three or four to one, even during the tournament itself. That’s not a reflection of performance. It’s a reflection of what editors and audiences have been trained to expect gets covered.
| Metric | Men’s team | Women’s team |
| Defending champion status (2023) | Yes | Yes |
| Squad strength for 2026 | Second-string, due to bilateral clash | Near full-strength |
| Typical news volume this week | High | Low to moderate |
| Federation pay parity (since 2022) | Equal match fees | Equal match fees |
If column inches really are a form of funding, as this reporter believes, then the women’s side is still running on a smaller budget than the numbers on paper suggest. A gold medal that gets one wire story and a gold medal that gets a week of build-up coverage are not the same currency, even if the trophy looks identical.
FAQ
When does Asian Games cricket start in 2026?
The tournament runs from September 19 to October 4, 2026, in Nagoya, Japan, with both men’s and women’s T20 matches held across that window.
Is Asian Games cricket played in T20 format?
Yes. Both the men’s and women’s tournaments at the 2026 Asian Games are played in the shortest T20 format, chosen to fit the packed multi-sport schedule.
Did India win gold in cricket at the last Asian Games?
Yes. India won gold in both the men’s and women’s cricket events at the 2023 Hangzhou Asian Games, beating Afghanistan in the men’s final.
Where can fans watch India’s Asian Games cricket matches?
Live scores, schedules and streaming details are being updated through official Olympic Council of Asia partners and major sports broadcasters covering the Games.
Why did China’s women’s team withdraw from Asian Games cricket?
Reports suggest logistical issues and a domestic selection dispute forced China’s women’s team to pull out before playing a single match, though official confirmation from the Chinese cricket body has been limited.
Medals don’t need translation, but recognition apparently does. Until India’s women’s Asian Games cricket campaign gets the same volume of ink as the men’s second-string side chasing the same gold, the score that actually matters, who gets remembered, stays unfairly weighted.