India, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka Receive Direct Knockout Berths at Asian Games 2026

July 24: India, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka have secured direct qualification to the knockout stage of the men's cricket competition at the Asian Games 2026, while six other teams will battle through the opening round for the remaining quarter-final spots.

The tournament draw, announced on Thursday, confirmed that the men's event will feature 10 teams, while the women's competition will have eight participating nations.

Men's tournament format

Afghanistan, Hong Kong, Japan, Malaysia, Nepal and Oman will compete in the preliminary stage, with the top two teams from each group advancing to the quarter-finals alongside the four highest-seeded sides.

Group A

• Afghanistan

• Japan

• Nepal

Group B

• Hong Kong

• Malaysia

• Oman

The top two teams from each group will move into the knockout rounds to face India, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka, who received automatic quarter-final qualification based on their rankings.

The men's tournament will be held from September 24 to October 1.

Women's quarter-final fixtures

The women's competition begins directly with the quarter-finals and will run from September 17 to 22. The matchups are:

• India vs Japan

• Bangladesh vs China

• Sri Lanka vs Malaysia

• Pakistan vs Thailand

T20 format in Nagoya

All cricket matches at the Asian Games will be played in the T20 format and hosted in Nagoya, Japan.

India defending double gold

India enter the Games as defending champions in both the men's and women's events after winning gold medals at the Hangzhou 2023 Asian Games.

In the men's final, India were awarded the gold medal after the title clash against Afghanistan was washed out, with the higher-seeded side declared champions. In the women's final, India defeated Sri Lanka by 19 runs to secure the gold medal.

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