Thursday Nov 12, 2026
Thursday Nov 12, 2026
Thursday, 1 October 2026 00:05 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}
After six abandoned matches, five of them without a toss, because of incessant rain the forecast for today’s semi-finals of the Asian Games men’s cricket at Nisshin, Japan is for bright weather.
The timing couldn’t have been better because the four remaining games will decide the positions on the podium. Pakistan and Bangladesh still don’t have a gold in this edition; Sri Lanka have just one and India have seven.
India are the defending champions, and it will take a gargantuan effort from the second-string Sri Lankan side to throw them off their path.
Even the full-strength Sri Lanka T20I side has not been able to score 150 of late, or win a match since June, and have only one win from their last ten attempts. The Sri Lanka squad that hasn›t played even a moment of cricket since landing in Japan has a captain - Sahan Arachchige - with just one T20I to his name, which came back in the 2023 Asian Games, when they lost to Afghanistan. The more recognisable names are Niroshan Dickwella and Ashen Bandara, who haven›t featured in a T20I since 2021 and 2023 respectively. There are six other players in that squad of 15 who have played fewer than ten T20Is each, and another four who are uncapped.
India, unlike most other Full Member sides, have sent their big guns to Japan. Although there is an ODI series against the West Indies going on in India, and the Cricket World Cup is just a year away, India chose to send the likes of Jasprit Bumrah, Shreyas Iyer and Ishan Kishan, among others, to Japan instead in the hunt for a Gold medal.
In case unexpected rain washes out this game too, India will go through to the final for being the higher-ranked side. The first semi-final is between Pakistan and Bangladesh.
