New Delhi. A big update has come out regarding the matches of the Indian cricket team in the Asian Games 2026. The timing of some important knockout matches of the Men's cricket competition has been changed. According to the revised schedule, the matches played in the afternoon will now start at 1:30 pm instead of 2 pm as per the local time of Japan. This will also have a direct impact on the quarter-final match of the Indian team. However, no change has been made in the timing of women's cricket matches.
The Indian men's cricket team has got a direct entry into the quarter-finals of the Asian Games. The team captained by Shreyas Iyer will play its quarter-final match on September 28. This match will start at 1:30 pm local time in Japan. Japan is 3 hours 30 minutes ahead of India, so Indian viewers will be able to watch this match from 10 am. Whereas the matches in the morning slot will start at 9 am in Japan as before, which means they will be telecast in India from 5.30 am.
This change in timing is not limited to the quarter finals only. The second semi-final to be held on October 1 will also start at 1:30 pm Japan time. There is every possibility of the Indian team reaching this stage. After this, the gold medal match to be held on October 3 will also start at 1:30 pm. In such a situation, if Shreyas Iyer's team reaches the finals, then cricket fans in India will get to see the match for the gold medal from 10 am. The first quarter-final in which Pakistan is involved, the first semi-final and the bronze medal match will be played at 9 am Japanese time.
The reason for the change in the timing of the matches has also come to light. According to the report, the facility of floodlight is not available at the place where the cricket matches of the Asian Games will be held. Due to the early evening in Japan, organizers felt the need to end the long men's matches early. For this reason, it has been decided to start the afternoon matches half an hour earlier. However, information about this change did not fully reach all concerned parties. Indian Olympic Association officials had also expressed ignorance in this regard while the revised timings have been updated in the official programme.
The Indian team is considered very strong in the Asian Games. Last time, the Indian men's team won the gold medal under the captaincy of Rituraj Gaikwad. This time the command of the team is in the hands of Shreyas Iyer and the team includes players like Abhishek Sharma, Sanju Samson, Ishan Kishan, Shivam Dubey, Tilak Verma, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Akshar Patel, Washington Sundar, Varun Chakraborty, Ravi Bishnoi, Jasprit Bumrah, Arshdeep Singh, Vaibhav Suryavanshi and Yash Thakur.
The Asian Games 2026 is to be held from September 19 to October 4 in Aichi and Nagoya, Japan. The T20 match between India and Japan to be held on September 22 is not a part of the Asian Games cricket competition. This match will be played at Sano International Stadium under a separate schedule. Considering the strong squad of the Indian team, this time also the expectations of gold medal have increased a lot.