Bangladesh earn direct quarter-final spot at Asian Games cricket
Bangladesh, India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka have received
direct entry into the men's cricket quarter-finals at the 2026 Asian Games.
The men's T20 tournament begins on
24 September in Nagoya with a six-team preliminary round to decide the
remaining four quarter-finalists.
Afghanistan, Japan and Nepal were
drawn in Group A, while Hong Kong, Malaysia and Oman will compete in Group B.
The top two teams from each group will progress to the knockout stage, where
they will join the four seeded sides.
The women's competition, scheduled for 17-22 September, will start at the
quarter-final stage.
Bangladesh will open their campaign
against China, while defending champions India face hosts Japan. Sri Lanka meet
Malaysia, and Pakistan take on Thailand.
All matches in both competitions
will be played in the T20 format.
At the previous Asian Games in
Hangzhou, delayed until 2023 because of the Covid-19 pandemic, India won both
the men's and women's cricket titles. The men's final against Afghanistan was
washed out by rain, with India awarded the gold medal as the higher-seeded
team. India's women defeated Sri Lanka in the final.
Bangladesh's men's team finished fourth after losing to Pakistan in the
bronze-medal match. The women's side also fell short of a medal, losing to
Pakistan in the third-place playoff.
