India-Pakistan cricket fever takes over Japan in Asian Games final

The fierce cricket rivalry between Pakistan and India reached an unusual setting on Saturday as the two neighbours faced each other in the men’s final of the 2026 Asian Games at a converted baseball field in Japan.

The high-profile clash at Korogi Athletic Park in Nisshin, near Nagoya, brought together Indian and Pakistani cricket fans living across Japan, transforming the modest 2,500-capacity venue into the centre of a passionate sporting spectacle.

For many spectators, the final was a rare opportunity to watch Pakistan and India play live in Japan. The two sides rarely meet outside major international tournaments because of long-standing political tensions, making their Asian Games encounter particularly significant for fans in the country.

Supporters began arriving hours before the match, with many carrying national flags and wearing team shirts. The temporary stands quickly filled as excitement built ahead of the gold-medal contest.

“I think this is never going to happen again, India against Pakistan in Japan,” Nagoya resident Umer Dar told AFP while wearing a Pakistan flag. Dar, who has lived in Japan for 26 years, said he was a passionate cricket fan but rarely had the opportunity to watch the sport live.

The atmosphere contrasted sharply with the scale of previous Pakistan-India encounters. Their most recent meeting came during the T20 World Cup in February, when the teams played before a sell-out crowd of around 35,000 in Sri Lanka.

In Japan, the setting was much smaller, with trees and a baseball pitcher’s mound visible beyond the boundary. Yet the rivalry generated the same intensity, as supporters cheered loudly after every boundary and wicket.

Indian supporters also faced strong demand for tickets. Tokyo resident Mohammed Kashim Raja said he had purchased his tickets three months earlier, when they were relatively easy to obtain.

He claimed tickets later became difficult to find, with reports that some were being resold at significantly higher prices.

While cricket remains a niche sport in Japan, the Pakistan-India final attracted a crowd overwhelmingly backing India, with only a handful of Pakistan flags and shirts visible among the spectators.

The match also came at a significant moment for cricket’s development in Japan. Earlier in the week, India played Japan in the country’s first-ever T20 international against a full-member cricket nation.

Japan came close to producing a major upset before India prevailed by two runs in a rain-shortened match at the Sano International Cricket Ground outside Tokyo. The game was held as part of celebrations marking 75 years of diplomatic relations between the two countries.

The growing exposure has sparked curiosity among Japanese spectators. Indian fan Kushal Gowda said people in Japan were beginning to ask questions about cricket and often compared it with baseball.

Teachers Hiromi Niwa and Miki Kaede, who attended the earlier Sri Lanka-Bangladesh bronze-medal match, initially knew little about cricket but found the experience enjoyable after learning the basic rules.

However, they were unable to attend the final because they did not realise how significant the Pakistan-India rivalry was.

For fans, that significance needed little explanation.

“Even if it’s in Japan, the craze of India versus Pakistan is always there,” Tokyo-based supporter Afroz Khan said. “Anywhere they play in the world, it’s always crazy.”

The Asian Games final thus became more than a contest for gold. It brought one of cricket’s biggest rivalries to an unfamiliar Japanese setting, while introducing thousands of local spectators to the passion surrounding the sport.