Asian Games 2026: The picture regarding cricket in the Asian Games to be held in Aichi-Nagoya, Japan is now becoming increasingly clear. A total of 10 teams will participate in the men's cricket tournament and the matches will start from September 24. So far, seven teams including India have announced their squads, while the teams of Malaysia, Sri Lanka and Hong Kong are yet to be announced. The International Cricket Council (ICC) has also released the list of available squads on September 3.
India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh have got direct quarter-final entry in the men's competition, while Afghanistan, Japan and Nepal will play the preliminary matches in Group-A and Hong Kong, Malaysia and Oman in Group-B. The top two teams of each group will advance to the knockout stage.
India will field under the captaincy of Shreyas Iyer
India has announced a 15-member squad for the Asian Games. Shreyas Iyer will take charge of the team. A mix of young and experienced players is being seen in the team. Where after a long gap, the team's best bowler Bumrah is also returning to the T20 team. However, the eyes of cricket lovers will be on 15-year-old young talent Vaibhav Suryavanshi who has made his place in the Indian senior team by blazing fire with the bat in the last 2 years.
India: Shreyas Iyer (captain), Abhishek Sharma, Sanju Samson, Ishan Kishan, Shivam Dubey, Tilak Verma, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Axar Patel, Washington Sundar, Varun Chakraborty, Ravi Bishnoi, Jasprit Bumrah, Harshit Rana, Arshdeep Singh and Vaibhav Suryavanshi.
The Indian men's team will start their campaign directly from the quarter-finals on September 28. It will face the second-placed team in Group-A.
Afghanistan also expressed confidence in the youth team
Afghanistan has selected a 15-member squad with Darwish Rasooli as the captain. The team also has experienced players like Karim Janat and Najibullah Zadran. According to ICC, many players in this team are in line to make their debut in international cricket.
Afghanistan: Darwish Rasooli (captain), Abdullah Ahmadzai, Mohammad Akram, Ismat Alam, Faridoon Dawoodzai, Hasan Isaakhil, Mohammad Ishaq, Karim Janat, Faisal Khan, Nangyal Kharoti, Imran Mir, Arab Gul Momand, Farmanullah Safi, Khalid Taniwal and Najibullah Zadran.
Liton Das will take command of Bangladesh
Bangladesh has made Liton Das the captain. The team includes players like Nazmul Hussain Shanto, Tauheed Hridoy, Rishad Hussain, Mustafizur Rahman and Hasan Mahmood.
Bangladesh: Liton Das (captain), Tanjeed Hasan, Parvez Hossain Emon, Mohammad Saif Hasan, Nazmul Hossain Shanto, Tauheed Hridoy, Musaddek Hossain Saikat, Yasir Ali Choudhary, Rishad Hossain, Shaq Mahedi Hasan, Nasum Ahmed, Mohammad Saifuddin, Shoriful Islam, Mustafizur Rahman and Hasan Mahmood.
Sahibzada Farhan will captain Pakistan
Pakistan has made Sahibzada Farhan the captain and Abdul Samad as the vice-captain. The team includes names like Saim Ayub, Haider Ali, Abrar Ahmed and Usman Khan.
Pakistan: Sahibzada Farhan (captain), Abdul Samad (vice-captain), Abrar Ahmed, Ahmed Daniyal, Akif Javed, Ali Raza, Arafat Minhas, Haider Ali, Hasan Nawaz, Maaz Sadaqat, Mohammad Salman Mirza, Saad Masood, Saeem Ayub, Sufyan Mokim and Usman Khan.
Kendall of host Japan got the captaincy
Japan: Kendall Kadowaki-Fleming (capt), Charlie Hara-Hinz, Benjamin Ito-Davis, Alastair Kadowaki-Fleming, Kohei Kubota, Jake Kusuda-Nairon, Wataru Miyauchi, Reo Sakurano-Thomas, Alex Shirai-Patmore, Shoma Sugaya-Slater, Declan Suzuki, Tsuyoshi Takada, Ibrahim Takahashi, Makoto Taniyama, Lachlan Yamamoto-Lake
Deependra Singh Airi becomes captain of Nepal
Nepal: Deependra Singh Airy (captain), Rohit Kumar Paudel, Sompal Kami, Karan KC, Sandeep Lamichhane, Arif Sheikh, Asif Sheikh, Kushal Bhurtel, Lalit Rajbanshi, Gulsan Kumar Jha, Nandan Yadav, Lokesh Bam, Sudeep Jora, Sher Malla, Kushal Malla.
Sufyan Mahmood given command of Oman
Oman: Sufyan Mahmood (captain), Muzaffar Shiralkar, Mohammed Ali Al Balushi, Zubair Al Balushi, Shuaib Al Balushi, Naved Al Balushi, Wasim Al Balushi, Ahmed Al Jadjali, Samir Othman, Waheed Al Balushi, Faris Al Balushi, Mohammed Usman, Issa Rahim Al Balushi, Abdul Jalil, Qais Al Balushi.
Waiting for the squads of these three teams
Now the eyes are on Malaysia, Sri Lanka and Hong Kong. The squads of these three teams were not yet announced in the ICC's updated list of September 3.
In terms of the format of the tournament, Sri Lanka has got direct entry into the quarter-finals like India, Pakistan and Bangladesh, while Hong Kong and Malaysia will have to play the initial matches in Group-B.
Men's cricket competition will start from 24th September
The men's cricket competition at the Asian Games will be held from September 24 to October 3. All matches will be played in T20 format. After the group stage, the quarter-finals will be played on 28 and 29 September, the semi-finals on 1 October and the bronze medal match and final on 3 October.
India has last won gold medals in both men's and women's categories in the Hangzhou Asian Games 2023. In such a situation, the team led by Shreyas Iyer will have the challenge of defending its title. This time, with the mix of young talent and experienced international players, the Indian team is again considered a strong contender.