Asian Games 2026 men’s cricket: schedule, groups, venues and full squads

The men’s cricket tournament at the 2026 Asian Games in Japan begins on September 24, 2026, with matches played in the T20 format and 10 teams taking part. The competition will follow a group stage and knockout format, with the final set for October 3, 2026.

The event combines preliminary group matches and knockout rounds, and several teams have already secured places in the quarter-finals. India enter as the defending champions after winning the gold medal at the 2023 Hangzhou Asian Games and will defend the title in Japan. The tournament schedule, venues and full squad lists have been released ahead of the start.

The men’s tournament features 10 teams divided into two preliminary groups. Group A consists of Afghanistan, Japan and Nepal. Group B is listed as Hong Kong, China, Malaysia and Oman.

The top two teams from each group will progress to the quarter-finals. India, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka have been granted direct entry into the quarter-final stage. India will play the second-placed team from Group A in the second quarter-final on September 28; Pakistan will face the Group B runners-up, while Sri Lanka and Bangladesh will meet the winners of Groups A and B respectively.

Group-stage matches are scheduled from September 24 to 26, with the knockout stage beginning on September 28. All men’s cricket fixtures will be staged at Korogi Sports Park in Nisshin, Aichi Prefecture, and the venue will host both group-stage and knockout matches, including the final on October 3.

India – Shreyas Iyer (C), Tilak Varma, Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, Abhishek Sharma, Shivam Dube, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Axar Patel, Washington Sundar, Vipraj Nigam, Sanju Samson, Ishan Kishan, Ravi Bishnoi, Jasprit Bumrah, Arshdeep Singh, Yash Thakur.

Afghanistan – Darwish Rasooli (C), Abdullah Ahmadzai, Mohammad Akram, Ismat Alam, Faridoon Dawoodzai, Hassan Eisakhil, Mohammad Ishaq, Karim Janat, Faisal Khan, Nangyal Kharoti, Imran Mir, Arab Gul Momand, Farmanullah Safi, Khalid Taniwal, Najibullah Zadran.

Bangladesh – Litton Das (C), Tanzid Hasan, Parvez Hossain Emon, Mohammed Saif Hasan, Najmul Hossain Shanto, Tawhid Hridoy, Musaddek Hossain Saikat, Yasir Ali Chowdhury, Rishad Hossain, Shak Mahedi Hasan, Nasum Ahmed, Shoriful Islam, Mustafizur Rahman, Hasan Mahmud.

Japan – Kendel Kadowaki-Fleming (C), Charlie Hara-Hinze, Benjamin Ito-Davis, Alester Kadowaki-Fleming, Kohei Kubota, Jake Kusuda-Nairn, Wataru Miyauchi, Reo Sakurano-Thomas, Alex Shirai-Patmore, Shoma Sugaya-Slater, Declan Suzuki, Tsuyoshi Takada, Ibrahim Takahashi, Makoto Taniyama, Lachlan Yamamoto-Lake.

Nepal – Dipendra Singh Airee (C), Rohit Kumar Paudel, Sompal Kami, Karan KC, Sandeep Lamichhane, Aarif Sheikh, Aasif Sheikh, Kushal Bhurtel, Lalit Rajbanshi, Gulsan Kumar Jha, Nandan Yadav, Lokesh Bam, Sundeep Jora, Sher Malla, Kushal Malla; Oman – Sufyan Mehmood (C), Muzaffar Shiralkar, Mohammed Ali Al Balushi, Zubair Al Balushi, Shuaib Al Balushi, Nawed Al Balushi, Wasim Al Balushi, Ahmed Al Zadjali, Sameer Othman, Waheed Al Balushi, Faris Al Balushi, Mohammed Osman, Issa Rahim Al Balushi, Abdul Jalil, Qais Al Balushi.

Pakistan – Sahibzada Farhan (C), Abdul Samad, 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; Sri Lanka – Sahan Arachchige (C), Ashen Bandara, Lasith Croospulle, Sohan de Livera, Niroshan Dickwella, Binura Fernando, Nuwanidu Fernando, Tharindu Ratnayake, Dushan Hemantha, Sineth Jayawardena, Chamika Karunaratne, Garuka Sanketh, Wanuja Sahan, Nuwan Thushara, Vijayakanth Viyaskanth.

Hong Kong – Babar Hayat, Anas Khan, Shiv Mathur, Hafeez Khan, Nizakhat Khan, Yasim Murtuza, Rajab Hussain, Nasrulla Rana, Shahid Wasif, Anshuman Rath, Ayush Shukla, Ehsan Khan, Hassan Khan Mohammad, Mohammad Ghazanfar, Mohammad Waheed; Malaysia – Muhammad Amir Azim, Sharvin Muniandy, Aslam Khan Malik, Rahim Khan, Syed Aziz Mubarak, Muhammad Syahadat, Muhammad Akram, Amir Khan Malik, Muhammad Haziq Aiman, Ainool Hafiz, Virandeep Singh, Pawandeep Singh, Azri Azhar, and Muhammad Wafiq.

The men’s cricket tournament opens on September 24, 2026, and the final is scheduled for October 3, 2026.