India v Pakistan set for Asian Games men's cricket final at Korogi Park
India and Pakistan will meet at Korogi Park on Saturday morning for the Asian Games men's cricket final with the gold medal at stake. It will be the first men's cricket meeting between the neighbours at the Games.
The tournament in Japan has been affected by rain, with several matches washed out or shortened and an overall standard described as modest. India have named a strong T20 squad including Jasprit Bumrah, Shreyas Iyer, Sanju Samson, Ishan Kishan, Abhishek Sharma, Tilak Varma, Axar Patel and Washington Sundar; Pakistan’s group is considerably younger and is led by Sahibzada Farhan and built around Saim Ayub, Hasan Nawaz, Abdul Samad and Arafat Minhas. The two teams have not shaken hands since last year’s Asia Cup and that strained backdrop extends across other sports, the report said. The Asian Cricket Council announced that Mohsin Naqvi will not attend Finals Day: “ACC President, Mr. Mohsin Naqvi, will miss Finals Day at Asian Games 2026 due to prior commitments, but sends his very best wishes to all four teams ahead of the Gold and Bronze Medal Matches,” the ACC said on its official X handle; Naqvi is also described as chairman of the Pakistan Cricket Board and Pakistan’s Interior Minister, and Indian men’s and women’s teams refused to accept their Asia Cup trophies from him last year.
India reached the final by bowling Sri Lanka out for 45 in the semi-final, while Pakistan required a nervy, shortened chase against Bangladesh in which Abdul Samad’s 30 off 15 balls secured the win. The contrasting semi-final displays framed the final: India’s bowling was dominant in that match, Pakistan’s batting order repeatedly surrendered wickets before Samad’s late hitting.
The head-to-head record favours India, who have won the last six T20Is between the sides and lead the overall T20 record 14-3; Pakistan’s most recent win over India came in 2022. When the teams last met, in the group stage of this year’s T20 World Cup in Colombo, Ishan Kishan’s 77 steered India to victory. In ODIs, Pakistan’s last win over India is recorded as at the 2017 Champions Trophy. Recent form lines in the source read India WWWWW in their last five completed matches and Pakistan WLWWW.
Korogi Park has produced a tricky surface during the tournament, with underlying moisture, bright sunshine, uneven bounce and turn all cited as factors that have troubled batters. India are likely to rely on spinners Axar Patel, Washington Sundar and Ravi Bishnoi, with Abhishek Sharma an option if the ball turns sharply, while Jasprit Bumrah supplies the main pace threat. Pakistan are expected to lean on Abrar Ahmed and Sufyan Moqim, with Saim Ayub and Arafat Minhas also able to bowl spin; the preview notes roughly 16 overs of spin could be bowled between the sides and that middle-overs spin may well decide the match.
The forecast for the match is largely favourable after earlier disruption, with one listed chance of rain at 1 percent and another around 10 percent amid some cloud, and temperatures ranging from 16 to 27 degrees Celsius with a maximum near 25. The report states T20 World Champions India have taken the competition seriously, with Bumrah present in Japan and several established T20 names selected; it also notes interim head coach VVS Laxman and captain Shreyas Iyer expect to win and that losing would carry consequence. Pakistan’s batting threat is identified as Sahibzada Farhan, who scored 57, 58 and 40 against India in last year’s T20 Asia Cup, has two half-centuries in four T20I innings against India at an average of 38.75 with a strike rate of 118.32, has hit nine sixes against India—the most by a Pakistan batter in T20Is—and has featured in an advertorial documentary about hitting Bumrah for a six; the preview adds, “On Saturday, he gets another crack at the man himself.”
Sanju Samson’s semi-final score of 7, when he was bowled while backing away, and his lower-than-100 T20I strike rate against Pakistan from two innings in the same Asia Cup are noted, along with the possibility he could bat at No. 3 again after doing so in the semi-final. The 15-year-old Vaibhav Sooryavanshi was drafted into India’s XI for the semi-final with Abhishek Sharma expected to open alongside him; Shreyas Iyer, Ishan Kishan, Tilak Varma and Shivam Dube are listed as other middle-order and power-hitting options. Pakistan are said to need contributions from Saim Ayub, Hasan Nawaz and Abdul Samad beyond the late hitting that settled their semi-final, and the preview highlights Pakistan’s decision to field four spinners as a notable selection quirk, with Abrar and Sufyan expected to carry most of the workload.
Arshdeep Singh did not bowl in the tournament after being left out of the semi-final, the report states, leaving a selection question over whether India will restore him to share the pace burden with Bumrah or retain the extra spin option that beat Sri Lanka. Pakistan are expected to keep their four-spin combination. The preview lists the predicted XIs as follows: INDIA'S PREDICTED XI: Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, Abhishek Sharma, Sanju Samson (wk), Shreyas Iyer (capt), Ishan Kishan, Tilak Varma, Shivam Dube, Axar Patel, Washington Sundar, Ravi Bishnoi, Jasprit Bumrah; PAKISTAN'S PREDICTED XI: Sahibzada Farhan (capt), Maaz Sadaqat, Usman Khan (wk), Saim Ayub, Hasan Nawaz, Abdul Samad, Arafat Minhas, Ahmed Daniyal, Mohammad Wasim, Sufyan Moqim, Abrar Ahmed.
The competition rules differ from Hangzhou 2023: at Aichi-Nagoya 2026 the final will go to a Super Over if the match is abandoned or washed out due to rain, and if the Super Over cannot be completed the teams will share the gold medal. The India v Pakistan Asian Games men's cricket final will be streamed live on Sony LIV in India and telecast on Sony Sports 1, with regional-language coverage on Sony Sports 3 in Hindi and Sony Sports 4 in Tamil, Telugu and Kannada.
