India receive favourable routes to defend twin cricket golds at Asian Games
India’s bid to retain both cricket gold medals at the Aichi-Nagoya 2026 Asian Games received a significant boost after Thursday’s draw handed the defending champions favourable routes in both the men’s and women’s competitions. The draw ensured India avoided the tougher early hurdles, while also keeping the possibility of an India-Pakistan blockbuster until the latter stages of the tournament.
The Indian women’s team will kick off its title defence against hosts Japan in the quarterfinals of the eight-team T20 competition, scheduled from September 17 to 22. If Harmanpreet Kaur’s side overcomes Japan, they will face either Bangladesh or China in the semifinals.
Pakistan, meanwhile, have been placed on the opposite side of the draw alongside Thailand, while Sri Lanka will meet Malaysia in the remaining quarterfinals. As a result, an India-Pakistan contest in the women’s event can only take place in the gold-medal match.
India will head into the tournament with confidence after winning the women’s cricket gold medal in Hangzhou 2023, defeating Sri Lanka by 19 runs in the final. It marked India’s maiden cricket gold at the Asian Games after the sport returned to the programme.
INDIA MEN ALSO GET DIRECT QUARTERS ENTRY
The men’s competition, scheduled from September 24 to October 1, follows a different format. Thanks to their position among Asia’s top four T20I-ranked teams, India, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka have all secured direct entry into the quarterfinals, bypassing the preliminary stage.
Afghanistan, Japan and Nepal will compete in Group A, while Hong Kong China, Malaysia and Oman make up Group B, with the top two teams from each group advancing to the knockout rounds.
India’s men also enter the tournament as defending champions after claiming gold in Hangzhou 2023. The rain-hit final against Afghanistan was decided by seeding, with India awarded the title as the higher-ranked side.
Cricket will once again be played in the T20 format at the Asian Games, with the tournament serving as another major multi-sport platform ahead of the sport’s return to the Olympic programme at Los Angeles 2028. If both Indian teams navigate their favourable paths successfully, fans could yet witness two high-profile India-Pakistan clashes in the race for gold.
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