India Announce Squads and Schedule for 2026 Asian Games Cricket; Shreyas Iyer and Harmanpreet Kaur to Lead Title Defence
The schedule and national squads for the cricket competition at the 20th Asian Games in Aichi Prefecture, Japan, have been officially announced, setting the stage for India to defend its dual gold medals won at Hangzhou 2023. All matches will be played in the T20 format at the newly built Korogi Athletic Park in Nisshin City.
The Indian men's team will be captained by Shreyas Iyer and features high-profile stars including Jasprit Bumrah, Sanju Samson, Abhishek Sharma, Ishan Kishan, Shivam Dube, and young prodigy Vaibhav Sooryavanshi. Owing to their top ranking in Asia, the Indian men's team has received direct entry into the quarter-finals starting September 28, where they will face the runner-up of Group A.
In the women's tournament, Harmanpreet Kaur will captain a strong 15-member team featuring vice-captain Smriti Mandhana, Shafali Verma, Deepti Sharma, Richa Ghosh, and Karnataka off-spinner Shreyanka Patil. The women's team will begin its title defence against hosts Japan in a knockout quarter-final on September 18.
Cricket's inclusion at the Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games serves as a key stepping stone before the sport makes its return to the Summer Olympics at Los Angeles 2028. Entering both events as top seeds, India's squads carry high expectations from fans as they aim for another double gold sweep in Japan.
