Unlike in the previous editions of men’s cricket at the Asian Games, there will be no silver medals awarded in the ongoing Aichi-Nagoya Games. Cricket has been a a part of Asian Games programme since 2010, except the 2018 edition, which was held in Jakarta.
While women’s cricket knockouts went unharmed, the men’s cricket competition at the has been a pain for everyone with as many as six matches, including all the four quarterfinals, washed out due to rain without a single ball being bowled.
As a result, , Pakistan, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka have entered the semifinals, by the virtue of being the highest-ranked side against their respective opponents. And if things go like this in the last few days, it will be a loss for the oragnisers, players and the fans in , who have started learning more about the game in recent times.
In the last three editions where cricket has been held, the Afghanistan men’s team grabbed silver medals on all the occasions. While they lost in the final to settle for silver in 2010 and 2014 editions, in 2022, the summit clash against India was washed out due to rain in Hangzhou.
India, who were the highest-ranked in ICC T20I Rankings at that time as compared to Afghanistan, were declared as gold medal winners. But the organising committee made the rules slightly different this time in Aichi-Nagoya.
If the final is washed out, both the finalists will be awarded the gold medal, and will not be separated by their latest ICC T20I Rankings. “There are no reserve days scheduled for the men’s cricket final,” The Indian Express quoted the Asian Games 2026 organising committee.
“If the final is cancelled, both finalist teams will be awarded gold medals. If the bronze medal match is cancelled, both teams competing for third place will be awarded bronze medals.”
Both the semifinals ware scheduled for October 1. While Pakistan are slated to take on Bangladesh, India face Sri Lanka. The final will be held on October 3.
