Nagoya, 26 September (H.S.): The Indian men’s cricket team arrived in Nagoya on Saturday to begin its campaign at the 2026 Asian Games. Led by captain Shreyas Iyer, India will face Afghanistan in the quarter-finals on Monday, September 28. The match will begin at 10:30 a.m. IST.

India will be aiming to defend the gold medal it won at the previous edition. At the Hangzhou 2023 Asian Games, India claimed the gold medal after the final could not be completed due to rain, with India declared the winner on the basis of its higher seeding. The team was then captained by Ruturaj Gaikwad.

Experienced squad

The Indian squad for the Asian Games features several players with extensive international experience. Besides captain Shreyas Iyer, the squad includes Abhishek Sharma, Sanju Samson (wicketkeeper), Ishan Kishan (wicketkeeper), Shivam Dube, Tilak Varma (vice-captain), Nitish Kumar Reddy, Axar Patel, Washington Sundar, Varun Chakravarthy, Ravi Bishnoi, Jasprit Bumrah, Arshdeep Singh, Vaibhav Suryavanshi and Yash Thakur.

Former India cricketer VVS Laxman is the head coach of the team.

Afghanistan awaits in quarter-finals

The knockout stage of the men’s cricket competition has begun following the completion of the preliminary-round matches. Afghanistan and Nepal advanced to the quarter-finals from Group A. After Nepal’s match against Japan was abandoned due to rain, Nepal finished at the top of the group, while Japan were eliminated from the competition.

In the other Group A quarter-final, Nepal will face Sri Lanka on September 29. Meanwhile, matches involving Malaysia, Hong Kong and Oman are being played in Group B. The top two teams from the group will face Pakistan and Bangladesh in the quarter-finals.

Women’s team has already secured gold

India’s women’s cricket team has successfully defended its Asian Games title. Under the captaincy of Harmanpreet Kaur, India defeated Sri Lanka by 147 runs in the final to win the gold medal. It was also India’s first gold medal at the Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games.

The men’s team will now look to emulate the women’s success and win gold in Asian Games cricket for the second consecutive edition. Under Shreyas Iyer’s leadership, India will begin its campaign against Afghanistan in the quarter-finals on Monday.

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Hindusthan Samachar / Jun Sarkar