Asian Games 2026 Cricket: 18 Teams, One Ground In Nisshin

Asian Games 2026 cricket will be staged at a single ground in Nisshin, in Japan's Aichi Prefecture. The women's tournament runs from 17 to 22 September. The men's event follows from 24 September to 3 October. Ten men's teams and eight women's teams are entered. India hold both gold medals from the 2022 Games in Hangzhou.

The International Cricket Council set out the full field on Thursday, alongside squads from seven men's sides and four women's sides. Asia's ICC Full Members qualified automatically. Japan were added as hosts. The rest of the places went to teams that came through regional qualifying, four in the men's draw and three in the women's.

The ground at Nisshin

The venue is Korogi Park in Nisshin City. The Aichi-Nagoya 2026 organising committee calls it the second facility in Japan with a natural grass pitch built to the standard required for international competition. Sano International Cricket Ground in Tochigi was the first. The ICC describes the square as a hybrid surface expected to offer both bounce and turn, with temporary stands for roughly 2,000 spectators.

Both tournaments share that one ground. The women's final is on 22 September. The men's competition starts two days later. The organising committee says it chose T20 for its dynamic batting and its strategic nature.

Ten men's teams, two qualifying groups

India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh go straight to the quarter-finals. Six teams play preliminary groups first. The top two in each group join the seeded four in the last eight.

• Group A: Afghanistan, Japan, Nepal
• Group B: Hong Kong, Malaysia, Oman

Afghanistan are a Full Member and still start in the group phase. Hong Kong, Malaysia, Nepal and Oman reached the Games through the regional qualifier. Japan take their place as hosts.

Eight in the women's draw

The women's event is a straight knockout, according to the ICC. Eight teams, three rounds, no group stage. The published draw puts India, Bangladesh, Japan and China on one side and Sri Lanka, Pakistan, Malaysia and Thailand on the other. India open against the hosts.

China, Malaysia and Thailand came through qualifying. Six days cover the whole competition.

Squads still to land

Seven men's squads have been published. Afghanistan, Bangladesh, India, Japan, Nepal, Oman and Pakistan have all named fifteens. Hong Kong, Malaysia and Sri Lanka have not.

Shreyas Iyer captains India, with Jasprit Bumrah, Sanju Samson, Abhishek Sharma and Arshdeep Singh in the party. Litton Das leads Bangladesh. Sahibzada Farhan captains Pakistan and Abdul Samad is his deputy. Darwish Rasooli takes Afghanistan, Dipendra Singh Airee leads Nepal and Sufyan Mehmood captains Oman. Kendel Kadowaki-Fleming leads the hosts.

Four women's squads are in. Harmanpreet Kaur captains India with Smriti Mandhana as vice-captain, and Shreyanka Patil is listed subject to fitness. Nigar Sultana Joty leads Bangladesh, Fatima Sana takes Pakistan and Mai Yanagida captains Japan. China, Malaysia, Sri Lanka and Thailand are outstanding.

India defend both titles

India won the men's and women's gold at Hangzhou in 2022. They return as holders in both. Their men do not play until the quarter-finals. Their women start against Japan.

Five squads are still due. The men's final is on 3 October.