Aichi-Nagoya: India advanced to the semi-finals of the men’s cricket competition at the 2026 Asian Games after their quarterfinal against Afghanistan was abandoned without a ball being bowled due to persistent rain on Monday.
With the weather preventing play from getting underway, India progressed to the last four as the higher-ranked side. They will meet the winner of the quarterfinal between Sri Lanka and Nepal for a place in the final.
Led by Shreyas Iyer, with Tilak Varma as vice-captain, India entered the knockout stage with a strong squad comprising several established international players. The team includes Abhishek Sharma, Sanju Samson, Ishan Kishan, Shivam Dube, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Axar Patel, Washington Sundar, Varun Chakaravarthy, Ravi Bishnoi, Jasprit Bumrah, Arshdeep Singh, Vaibhav Sooryavanshi and Yash Thakur.
Former India batter VVS Laxman is serving as the team’s stand-in head coach for the Asian Games campaign.
India are now two wins away from retaining the men’s cricket gold they won at the 2023 Asian Games in Hangzhou. Their previous final against Afghanistan was also washed out, with India taking gold under the tournament’s ranking-based rule.
The Indian women’s team has already successfully defended its Asian Games title in Aichi-Nagoya. Harmanpreet Kaur’s side defeated Sri Lanka by 147 runs in the final to secure gold.
Pakistan also booked its place in the men’s semi-finals after its quarterfinal against Hong Kong was abandoned due to rain. Pakistan progressed as the higher-ranked team.
India will now wait for the result of the Sri Lanka-Nepal quarterfinal to learn their semi-final opponents as they continue their bid for a second consecutive Asian Games men’s cricket gold.
