Asian Games Cricket Semi-Final: In the Asian Games 2026, the Indian men’s cricket team has made it to the semi-finals without playing a ball. The quarter-final match between the Indian team captained by Shreyas Iyer and Afghanistan to be played on Monday was canceled due to continuous rain. Under the rules of the tournament, India got entry into the semi-finals due to better T20 ranking.

India will now play its semi-final match on 1 October. Which team will face Team India will be decided after the quarter-final matches to be held on Tuesday. According to the current information, India will face the winner of the match between Sri Lanka and Nepal.

Indian team entered Asian Games for the second time

Cricket has been included in the Asian Games for the fourth time, while the Indian cricket team is participating in this competition for the second time. India sent a men’s cricket team to the Asian Games for the first time in 2023 and the team won the gold medal in that tournament.

In 2023, the Indian team captained by Ruturaj Gaikwad defeated Bangladesh by nine wickets in the semi-finals. Batting first, Bangladesh scored 96 runs for nine wickets in 20 overs. For India, Sai Kishore took three wickets and Washington Sundar took two wickets.

Chasing the target of 97 runs, India won by losing one wicket in 9.2 overs. Tilak Verma played a quick inning of 55 runs on 26 balls, while captain Ruturaj Gaikwad remained unbeaten on 40 runs on 26 balls. Both of them had made a partnership of 97 runs for the second wicket.

2023 final was washed out due to rain

India faced Afghanistan in the 2023 final. The match could not be completed due to rain. Batting first, Afghanistan scored 112 runs for five wickets in 18.2 overs, but after that the game could not be restarted due to rain.

Under the rules of the Asian Games, the Indian team with better seeding/ranking was declared the winner and India won the gold medal. In this way, even in 2026, India has got a ticket for the semi-finals without taking the field in the quarter-finals against Afghanistan due to rain.