Pakistan, India, Sri Lanka, and Bangladesh have received direct entry into the men’s cricket knockout stage of the Asian Games 2026, to be held in Nagoya, Japan, in September 2026.
Afghanistan, Hong Kong, Malaysia, Nepal, and Oman will contest the opening round for the remaining knockout-stage places.
The draws for the men’s and women’s tournaments was announced on Thursday. Ten teams will participate in the men’s event, while eight sides will feature in the women’s competition.
The women’s tournament will begin with the quarter-finals: India vs. Japan, China vs. Bangladesh, Sri Lanka vs. Malaysia, and Pakistan vs. Thailand, set to run from 17 to 22 September. The men’s edition will be played from 24 September to 1 October.
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Afghanistan, Japan, and Nepal are slotted in Group A. Meanwhile, Hong Kong, Malaysia, and Oman are placed in Group B. The top two teams from each group will advance to the knockouts to meet direct qualifiers.
All matches of the Asian Games will be played in T20 format in Nagoya.
India won gold in both the men’s and women’s cricket events at the Asian Games held in 2023 . The men’s final was abandoned because of rain, with India awarded the title as the higher-seeded side. In the women’s final, India defeated Sri Lanka by 19 runs to win the gold medal
For those unaware, Nepal, Malaysia, Hong Kong, and Oman have qualified for the Asian Games after featuring in the seven-team qualifying event held in Singapore earlier this year.