New Delhi. The excitement of the Men's cricket competition in the Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games 2026 has now reached the decisive phase. There is a possibility of gold medal match between India and Pakistan in the tournament, but the picture of the final is not completely clear yet. Both the teams have made it to the semi-finals without playing their quarter-final matches due to rain. Now both of them face the challenge of semi-finals and if India and Pakistan register victory in their respective encounters, then both the arch rivals can be seen face to face in the gold medal match on October 3.
In the men's cricket competition of the Asian Games, India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh got direct entry into the quarter-finals on the basis of their better ranking. On the other hand, Japan, Nepal, Afghanistan, Hong Kong, Malaysia and Oman had to play matches in the group stage. Nepal and Afghanistan from Group A made it to the quarter-finals while Malaysia and Hong Kong from Group B reached the last eight.
Rain changed the entire equation in the quarter-final matches. The match between Pakistan and Hong Kong was abandoned without a single ball being bowled. After this, the match between India and Afghanistan could not start due to rain and wet outfield. According to the rules of the competition, in such a situation the team with better ranking gets entry into the next round. Under this rule, both Pakistan and India reached the semi-finals.
This match was also special for India because cricket fans were waiting for 15-year-old Vaibhav Suryavanshi to take the field in the Asian Games. Vaibhav has made a lot of headlines after his brilliant batting in IPL 2026. However, due to rain, even the toss could not take place and the Indian team got the ticket for the semi-finals without playing. India is the number one team in the ICC T20 rankings while Afghanistan is ranked at tenth position.
Now India's semi-final will be held against Sri Lanka on October 1 at 10 am. The quarter-final between Sri Lanka and Nepal was also washed out due to rain. Pakistan will face Bangladesh at 5:30 am on the same day. From here comes a new twist in the possible story of India Pakistan final. Pakistan will have to defeat Bangladesh to reach the final while India will face the challenge of Sri Lanka.
If both the teams win their semi-finals, then India and Pakistan can face each other in the gold medal match on October 3 at 10 am. However, at present this can be considered only a possible equation because both the teams need to win the semi-finals first. Bangladesh can become a big challenge for Pakistan and Sri Lanka also stands in the way of India's final. In such a situation, the next two matches in the Asian Games 2026 are going to be very important for the cricket fans.