Asian Games 2026: Jay Shah lauds Japan for writing ‘new chapter' in cricket, congratulates India on defending gold

Jay Shah, the chairman of the International Cricket Council (ICC), congratulated the Shreyas Iyer-led Indian cricket team on Saturday after they defended the gold medal at the 2026 Asian Games in Aichi-Nagoya. He also lauded Japan for writing a “new chapter” in cricket's history.

India defeated arch-rivals Pakistan by 19 runs in the final on Saturday to defend the gold medal the nation had won in 2023.

Opting to bat first, the Men in Blue posted 211/4 on the back of fifties from Abhishek Sharma (61) and Tilak Varma (51*). In reply, Pakistan were restricted to 192/6, with Hasan Nawaz's knock of 96 going in vain.

Jay Shah lauds Japan on new chapter in cricket history

"Nagoya and Japan have written a proud new chapter in cricket's history. Congratulations to Team India @BCCI on a campaign worthy of this moment, and heartfelt thanks to every competing nation, to the @AsianGamesOCA and organisers whose vision brought us here, and to the thousands of fans whose presence reminded us why cricket is so special anywhere in the world. @CricketJapan," Shah wrote on "X", formerly Twitter.

India were one of the seeded teams that received direct entry into the quarterfinal of the men’s cricket tournament. However, all the quarterfinals were washed out due to rain, meaning that India, along with the other three seeded teams in Sri Lanka, Pakistan and Bangladesh qualified for the semifinals.

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India took on Sri Lanka in the semifinal and defeated the island nation by 124 runs. Sri Lanka, who lost to Pakistan in the semifinals, defeated Bangladesh in the third place match to clinch bronze medal. Pakistan won the silver medal.

The Indian women's team also continued their sensational run at the continental level, securing a second successive Asian Games gold medal after explosive knocks from Smriti Mandhana and Shafali Verma, followed by a dominant performance from the spinners, powered India to a massive 147-run victory over Sri Lanka in the title clash on Tuesday.

India's overall medal tally climbed to 85, comprising 21 gold, 27 silver and 37 bronze. India finished Asian Games 2026 in fourth place.

The Asian Games featured 469 medal events across 43 sports and 71 disciplines. At Hangzhou 2023, the previous edition, India had fielded a 650-strong contingent and secured a record 106 medals — 28 gold, 38 silver and 40 bronze — to finish fourth in the overall standings.

With inputs from ANI