ICC Publishes Full Asian Games 2026 Cricket Guide as India Defend Both Titles

The ICC has published its full guide to cricket at the 2026 Asian Games, confirming the schedule and defending champions ahead of the sport's fourth appearance at the Games in Aichi-Nagoya, Japan.

The women's tournament runs first, from September 17 to 22, featuring eight teams, followed by the men's event from September 24 to October 3 with ten sides competing. Both tournaments are played in the T20I format at the Korogi Sports Park in Nisshin, Aichi Prefecture. India head into the Games as defending champions in both competitions, having swept gold in the men's and women's cricket events at Hangzhou 2023.

Afghanistan, Bangladesh, India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka qualified directly for the men's event as Asia's ICC Full Member nations, joined by hosts Japan and four sides who came through qualifiers in Singapore and Malaysia, including debutants Oman. In the women's competition, Bangladesh, India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka qualified directly alongside hosts Japan, with Thailand and Malaysia among the sides progressing through the Kuala Lumpur qualifiers.

India's men's squad features star quicks Jasprit Bumrah and teenage prodigy Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, while the women's squad includes top-10 ranked batters Smriti Mandhana, Shafali Verma and captain Harmanpreet Kaur, though it will be without Jemimah Rodrigues after she was ruled out with a high-grade hamstring tear. All matchdays will be double-headers, with cricket's return to the programme meaning action begins over a week before the Games' official opening ceremony on September 19.