Asian games 2026: Pakistan, India and other teams confirm men’s cricket squads

Most participating teams have finalized their squads for the men’s cricket competition at the 2026 Asian Games, with the tournament set to feature several prominent Asian cricketing nations.

The cricket competitions at the Asian Games will be held from September 17 to October 3, with the women’s event scheduled to begin first. The men’s cricket competition will commence on September 24 and will continue through the knockout stages until the medal matches in October.

India enter the tournament as the defending champions in both the men’s and women’s competitions after securing gold medals at the 2022 Asian Games in Hangzhou. The Indian team will look to retain its title, while other leading cricketing nations will attempt to challenge the defending champions for the gold medal.

Pakistan, India, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka have been seeded for the men’s competition and will enter the tournament directly at the quarter-final stage. The remaining teams will compete in the earlier rounds for a place in the last eight.

The semi-finals are scheduled to take place on October 1, while the bronze-medal match and gold-medal final will be played on October 3. With several established players included in the squads, the competition is expected to provide an interesting contest among the participating teams.

Pakistan have named a 15-member squad for the tournament, with Sahibzada Farhan appointed captain and Abdul Samad serving as vice-captain. The squad also includes Abrar Ahmed, Ahmed Daniyal, Akif Javed, Ali Raza, Arafat Minhas, Haider Ali, Hasan Nawaz, Maaz Sadaqat, Mohammad Salman Mirza, Saad Masood, Saim Ayub, Sufyan Moqim and Usman Khan.

India will be led by Shreyas Iyer, with a strong squad featuring several international names. Abhishek Sharma, Sanju Samson, Ishan Kishan, Shivam Dube, Tilak Varma, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Axar Patel, Washington Sundar, Varun Chakaravarthy, Ravi Bishnoi, Jasprit Bumrah, Harshit Rana, Arshdeep Singh and young batter Vaibhav Sooryavanshi have been included.

Afghanistan have also announced their 15-member squad, led by Darwish Rasooli. The team includes Abdullah Ahmadzai, Mohammad Akram, Ismat Alam, Faridoon Dawoodzai, Hassan Eisakhil, Mohammad Ishaq, Karim Janat, Faisal Khan, Nangyal Kharoti, Imran Mir, Arab Gul Momand, Farmanullah Safi, Khalid Taniwal and Najibullah Zadran.

Bangladesh will be captained by Litton Das and have included Tanzid Hasan, Parvez Hossain Emon, Mohammed Saif Hasan, Najmul Hossain Shanto, Tawhid Hridoy, Musaddek Hossain Saikat, Yasir Ali Chowdhury, Rishad Hossain, Shak Mahedi Hasan, Nasum Ahmed, Mohammed Saifuddin, Shoriful Islam, Mustafizur Rahman and Hasan Mahmud.

Japan’s squad will be led by Kendel Kadowaki-Fleming and includes Charlie Hara-Hinze, Benjamin Ito-Davis, Alester Kadowaki-Fleming, Kohei Kubota, Jake Kusuda-Nairn, Wataru Miyauchi, Reo Sakurano-Thomas, Alex Shirai-Patmore, Shoma Sugaya-Slater, Declan Suzuki, Tsuyoshi Takada, Ibrahim Takahashi, Makoto Taniyama and Lachlan Yamamoto-Lake.

Oman will be captained by Sufyan Mehmood, while Nepal have named a squad led by experienced all-rounder Dipendra Singh Airee. Nepal’s squad includes Rohit Kumar Paudel, Sompal Kami, Karan KC, Sandeep Lamichhane, Aarif Sheikh, Aasif Sheikh, Kushal Bhurtel, Lalit Rajbanshi, Gulsan Kumar Jha, Nandan Yadav, Lokesh Bam, Sundeep Jora, Sher Malla and Kushal Malla.

Sri Lanka and Hong Kong are yet to announce their squads.

With several teams already confirming their line-ups, attention will now turn towards the opening matches and the battle for places in the knockout stages. The competition is expected to attract significant attention as Asian cricketing nations compete for one of the most prestigious sporting prizes on the continental stage.