India's men's cricket team will be housed in separate accommodations during the 2026 Asian Games in Aichi-Nagoya, while the women's team will stay in facilities provided by the organisers. According to BCCI secretary Devajit Saikia, the difference in arrangements is mainly due to the size of their contingent and its support team, as opposed to its perceived discrimination.
The Asian Games organizers have set a cap on how many members can be accommodated officially for each cricket contingent to 20 members. India's men's team is touring with a larger group of players, coaches, analysts, trainers and physiotherapists, which exceeds the permit limit.
Instead of dividing their group between the official accommodations and another location, the BCCI decided to arrange separate facilities for their men's contingent.
“BCCI has made its own arrangements for the men's team because the contingent is much larger than the permissible limit because of the size of their support staff. We do not want to segregate the men's team during the tournament,” Saikia told The Times of India.
The Indian Olympic Association had previously said that the BCCI would be allowed to make its own arrangements if the official accommodations did not meet the board's standards. According to that arrangement, the BCCI would also be responsible for the accommodation, food, transport and other logistics.
Why is India's men's team staying separately?
The main reason for the separate accommodation is the size of India's men's cricket contingent. The team's traveling party includes a substantial support staff, which takes the group beyond the 20-member limit set by the Asian Games organisers.
The BCCI chose to accommodate the entire men's group together instead of dividing players and staff between different places. The situation is intended to make logistics easier and for the squad and its support staff to stay together throughout the tournament.
India's women's contingent falls within the organisers' 20-member accommodation limit. As such, Harmanpreet Kaur and her team can stay in the facilities provided by the Asian Games organizing committee.
“The women's team is staying in the facilities provided by the organizing committee since the size of the contingent is within the permissible number of 20 members,” Saikia said.
The difference between the two situations is therefore logistical. The men's contingent is over the accommodation limit, whereas the women's team fits within the allocation.
Did the BCCI raise concerns about the Asian Games facilities?
Accommodation and logistical arrangements have been discussed in the run-up to the Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games, with reports of concerns coming from athletes of different contingents.
However, the BCCI has clarified that their decision to arrange separate accommodation for the men's team should not be viewed as a lack of confidence in the Games organisers.
“We fully trust the organizing committee to give the best facilities. This is a big event, and I am sure they will do what is required,” Saikia said.
The separate arrangement also allows the entire men's contingent to stay together without having to divide players and support staff across different facilities.
The accommodation decision comes as India takes a different approach to the Asian Games from the 2023 Hangzhou event.
India won the men's T20 gold medal in Hangzhou with a second-string squad, as the senior players were rested as the ODI World Cup was being held around the same period.
For the 2026 Asian Games, India have selected a full-strength men's team despite having prepared for the 2027 ODI World Cup. Shreyas Iyer leads a squad featuring Jasprit Bumrah and several established international players.
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Saikia said the BCCI considers the Asian Games a major assignment and is targeting another gold medal.
“We are eyeing a gold medal which is very important,” he said, adding that India has enough depth to field three strong teams. He also described an Asian Games gold medal as being “as important as any other big tournament.”
India are the defending champions in both men's and women's T20 cricket at the Asian Games. The women's team has already reached the gold-medal match after defeating Bangladesh in the semifinal, whereas the men's tournament is scheduled to begin later in the Games.
The decision to house the men's team separately is therefore primarily connected to contingent size and operational requirements rather than differences in status or treatment between India's men's and women's teams.