India have stormed into the men's cricket final at the Asian Games 2026 after producing a dominant performance against Sri Lanka in the semifinal on Thursday, October 1. The Indian side first posted a formidable 169/7 after being asked to bat, with Ishan Kishan leading the charge with a sensational unbeaten 80 off 46 balls. Vaibhav Sooryavanshi also made a valuable contribution, scoring 38 runs off 21 deliveries.
India's bowlers then completed the job in emphatic fashion, bowling Sri Lanka out for just 45 in 9.5 overs. Jasprit Bumrah spearheaded the attack with important early breakthroughs, while the rest of the bowling unit maintained relentless pressure to leave the Sri Lankan batsmen with no answers. The emphatic victory has taken India into the gold-medal clash, where they will face arch-rivals Pakistan.
India vs Pakistan: Asian Games 2026 final
Pakistan won a place in the gold medal match by beating Bangladesh in the other semi-final. The result means the long-awaited clash between the regional rivals is set to take center stage at the Asian Games, with both sides looking to finish the tournament on a high having won the gold medal.
When will the India vs Pakistan final be held?
India vs Pakistan final will be played on Saturday, October 3, at the Korogi Sports Park in Nisshin, Japan. It will be scheduled to start at 10:00 AM IST in India, which will be 9:30 AM PKT in Pakistan.
Also read: WPL 2027 Auction: 3 Indian stars who could attract major bids in Kochi
India and Pakistan Asian Games 2026 squads
India: Sanju Samson (wk), Abhishek Sharma, Ishan Kishan, Shreyas Iyer (c), Tilak Varma, Shivam Dube, Axar Patel, Arshdeep Singh, Ravi Bishnoi, Yash Thakur, Jasprit Bumrah, Washington Sundar, Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, Vipraj Nigam.
Pakistan: Sahibzada Farhan (c), Saim Ayub, Usman Khan (wk), Hasan Nawaz, Haider Ali, Abdul Samad, Mohammad Wasim Jr, Abrar Ahmed, Sufyan Moqim, Ahmed Daniyal, Akif Javed, Arafat Minhas, Saad Masood, Maaz Sadaqat, Ali Raza