The confirmation came after an official meeting between the Olympic Council of Asia (OCA) and the organising committee (AINAGOC).
In a massive development, cricket has been approved for the 20th Asian Games in Japan in 2026. The confirmation came after an official meeting between the Olympic Council of Asia (OCA) and the organising committee (AINAGOC).
“The latest development in the compilation of the sports programme came at the 41st meeting of the AINAGOC Board of Directors at Nagoya City Hall on Monday, April 28, when cricket and Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) were both formally approved,” says the OCA statement.
Cricket will be played in the T20 format, but the number of teams hasn’t been decided yet; however, a confirmation is expected during this week’s meeting. During the Asian Games 2023, 14 men’s and nine women’s teams participated, and the format was T20 at that time as well.
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While the venue will be in Aichi prefecture, the exact location has not been decided, and a final call will be made in the meeting. However, it is confirmed that cricket will be one of 41 sports at the Asian Games, with 15,000 athletes and officials from the OCA’s 45 National Olympic Committees will be part of it.
Indian men’s and women’s teams won the gold medal in the previous edition of the Asian Games in Hangzhou, China. The Indian men’s team were undefeated throughout the competition, but the final against Afghanistan was washed out due to rain.
However, India were awarded the gold medal due to the higher seeds, and they were comfortably the best side in the competition. Under Ruturaj Gaikwad’s captaincy, India defeated Nepal by 23 runs in quarter-final 1 and Bangladesh by nine wickets in semifinal 1.
Meanwhile, the Indian women’s team were also unbeaten throughout the tournament. Their quarter-final fixture against Malaysia was washed out due to rain, and they advanced to the semifinal due to the higher seeds.
Later, under Harmanpreet Kaur’s captaincy, India defeated Bangladesh by eight wickets in the semifinal 1 and Sri Lanka by 19 runs in the final. Both men’s and women’s teams have enormous depth and will again be one of the favourites to win the gold medal in the 20th Asian Games in 2026.
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