Indian cricket at Asian Games 2026: Complete schedule of men's, women's teams in Japan, date, time in IST, venues

The organisers of the 2026 Asian Games released the official draw for the men's and women's cricket competitions, setting the stage for another exciting T20 tournament featuring the continent's leading teams.

Cricket, which returned to the Asian Games in Hangzhou in 2023, will once again be played in the shortest format at the Aichi-Nagoya edition in Japan, with both the men's and women's events expected to attract significant attention.

India are the reigning gold medallists across both the men's and women's categories. The India men's team secured direct qualification to the quarter-finals, along with Pakistan, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka. India will take on one of the teams advancing from the preliminary round, which will be competed among six teams.

In the preliminary round, hosts Japan are in Group A along with Afghanistan and Nepal, whereas Hong King China, Malaysia and Oman are in Group B. The top two teams from each group will advance to the quarter-finals. The men's competition is scheduled to take place between 24 September to 3 October.

India are scheduled to play their quarter-final on 28 September, while Sri Lanka and Bangladesh will enter the competition a day later. The semi-finals are slated for 1 October, with both the gold and bronze medal matches taking place on 3 October, bringing the cricket competition to a close.

The tournament draw has also opened up the possibility of another India-Pakistan blockbuster. However, the two rivals have been placed on opposite halves of the knockout bracket, meaning they can only meet in the final if both teams win all their matches leading up to the title clash.

New T20I skipper Shreyas Iyer will lead the Men in Blue in Japan. The squad also consists of promising teenager Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, who scored a historic 18-ball fifty in the first T20I against Zimbabwe in Harare on Thursday.

The squad also features stars like Sanju Samson and Abhishek Sharma, whereas Jasprit Bumrah, Arshdeep Singh and Harshit Rana will be India’s three premier pacers. The likes of Varun Chakravarthy and Axar Patel headline their spin bowling attack.

The Indian women's team, on the other hand, will get their campaign underway on the opening day of the tournament with a quarter-final clash against hosts Japan.

Bangladesh will face China, Sri Lanka have been drawn against Malaysia, while Pakistan will take on Thailand in the remaining last-eight encounters. The four winners will advance to the semi-finals on 20 September before the bronze-medal match and final are played two days later.

Harmanpreet Kaur will lead the India women’s team, with Smriti Mandhana as her deputy. The squad also features the other regulars like Shafali Verma and Jemimah Rodrigues.

Renuka Singh Thakur is expected to spearhead India's pace attack at the 2026 Asian Games, while the experienced Deepti Sharma will marshal a spin unit featuring Radha Yadav, Sree Charani and, fitness permitting, Shreyanka Patil.

Both the competitions, which will carry full international status, will be played at the Korogi Athletic Park in Aichi Prefecture.

Here's the full schedule of the men's and women's cricket tournaments at the 2026 Asian Games:

Cricket schedule at 2026 Asian Games

Men's competition (From quarter-finals)

Women's competition schedule

How to watch Asian Games 2026 in India?

The 2026 Asian Games, which will take place in Nagoya, Japan from 19 September to 4 October, will be telecast on the Sony Sports Network TV channels. Live streaming will also be available on Sony LIV app and website.