Asian Games 2026 cricket — Tournament preview, all Teams, full Fixtures and complete schedule in one place

Cricket returns to the Asian Games for the fourth time when the 2026 edition takes place in Aichi-Nagoya, Japan. The cricket competitions will be held from September 17 to October 3 at Korogi Athletic Park in Aichi Prefecture. With the men’s and women’s T20 tournaments including some of the strongest teams in Asia, fans will be treated to nearly three weeks of thrilling contests.

The 2026 Asian Games will take place from 19 September to 4 October but cricket will commence even prior to the opening ceremony. India will enter the competition as the defending champion in both the men’s and women’s editions after winning the gold medals at the Hangzhou Asian Games in 2023.

The competition is all the more important as every game will have international status. It also comes at a time when cricket is preparing for its return to the Olympic Games at Los Angeles 2028, making the Asian Games an important platform for emerging and established stars alike.

Asian Games 2026 Cricket Format

The cricket competition will be played in the T20 format.

The women's event will feature eight teams and will be played as a straight knockout tournament beginning with the quarter-finals. The tournament will run from September 17 to September 22.

The men's competition will feature 10 teams and will take place from September 24 to October 3. Three days have been reserved for preliminary qualifiers before the quarter-finals. The format is expected to be similar to the 2023 Asian Games, where top-seeded teams receive direct entry into the knockout stage.

Teams Qualified for Asian Games 2026 Cricket

Men's Team:

The men's cricket tournament at the Asian Games 2026 will feature 10 teams. Japan qualified automatically as the host nation, while India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and Afghanistan secured direct entry as Asia's five ICC Full Member countries. These six teams did not need to play the qualification tournament.

See Also: Pakistan's Asian Games 2026 squad is out — No Babar Azam and Shaheen Afridi

The remaining four spots were decided through the Asian Games 2026 Men's Cricket Qualifier held in Singapore. Eight teams competed in the tournament and were divided into two groups. After the group stage, the top two teams from each group advanced to the semi-finals.

Hong Kong China, Nepal, Malaysia and Oman reached the semi-finals and therefore qualified for the Asian Games 2026. Hong Kong China and Nepal later played in the final, while Malaysia defeated Oman in the third-place playoff. Oman also made history by securing qualification for its first-ever Asian Games cricket tournament.

Women's Team:

The women's cricket tournament at the Asian Games 2026 will feature eight teams. Japan qualified automatically as the host nation, while India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh secured direct entry as Asia's four ICC Full Member countries in women's cricket. These five teams earned their places without having to play the qualification tournament.

The remaining three spots were decided through the Asian Games 2026 Women's Cricket Qualifier held in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Six teams took part in the tournament and were split into two groups. The top two teams in each group went through to the semi-finals after the group stage.

Thailand and Malaysia progressed to the final of the qualifier and secured their places at the Asian Games 2026. Thailand went on to win the qualification tournament, while Malaysia finished as runners-up. The final qualification spot was claimed by China, which defeated Nepal in the third-place playoff to book its ticket to Aichi-Nagoya.

Asian Games 2026 Cricket Schedule

The Asian Games 2026 cricket competition will be played at Korogi Athletic Park in Aichi Prefecture, Japan. The women's tournament will run from September 17 to September 22 and will follow a straight knockout format starting from the quarter-finals. The men's tournament will take place from September 24 to October 3, featuring preliminary qualification matches before the knockout stage. All matchdays will feature double-headers, with matches starting at 5:30 AM IST and 10:30 AM IST.

Men's Cricket Schedule

See Also: Vaibhav Sooryavanshi in, Rajat Patidar out — India's probable squad for Asian Games 2026 cricket revealed

Women's Cricket Schedule

Squads for Asian Games 2026 Cricket

The participating teams have gradually started announcing their squads for the Asian Games 2026. The men's squads of India and Pakistan have already been confirmed.  With a number of proven international stars as well as young promising talents participating, it is certain to be a showcase of some of the best T20 cricketers in Asia. 

India: Shreyas Iyer (Captain), Tilak Varma (Vice-Captain), Ravi Bishnoi, Abhishek Sharma, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Jasprit Bumrah, Sanju Samson, Axar Patel, Harshit Rana, Ishan Kishan, Washington Sundar, Arshdeep Singh, Shivam Dube, Varun Chakravarthy, Vaibhav Sooryavanshi.

Pakistan: Sahibzada Farhan (Captain), Abdul Samad (Vice-Captain), Abrar Ahmed, Ahmed Daniyal, Akif Javed, Ali Raza, Arafat Minhas, Haider Ali, Hasan Nawaz, Maaz Sadaqat, Mohammad Salman Mirza, Saad Masood, Saim Ayub, Sufyan Moqim, Usman Khan.

Remaining teams to be announced...

Where to watch Asian Games 2026 Cricket live?

Cricket fans in India and the wider Indian subcontinent can watch live coverage of the Asian Games 2026 on the Sony Sports Network. All matches will be live streamed on the Sony LIV platforms.

While the sport is on its way back to the Olympics for Los Angeles 2028 following the Asian Games 2026 is a unique chance for Asia's strongest line-ups to fight for continental supremacy and create new sporting memories in Japan.