Cricket will be part of the 20th Asian Games, to be hosted by Aichi-Nagoya, Japan, in 2026.
The Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games will be played between September 19 and October 4, 2026. Cricket will be part of the event, as the Olympic Council of Asia has formally approved.
Where will the cricket matches be played?
The Asian Games committee is currently in search of a venue. Among the venues considered is Sano, Tochigi Prefecture, which has hosted 21 T20Is till date across genders. Between April 24 and April 28, 2025, the venue hosted the East Asia-Pacific Division 1 Qualifiers for the 2026 Under-19 World Cup, to be played in Zimbabwe and Namibia.
The Japan Under-19s won all four games – two against each of Fiji and Papua New Guinea – by comfortable margins to qualify for the tournament.
Has cricket been part of the Asian Games before?
Cricket (T20) has been part of the Asian Games at Guangzhou 2010, Incheon 2014, and – after a break at Jakarta-Palembang 2018 – Hangzhou 2022 (postponed to 2023). India, who did not participate in the first two editions, are the current holders of the gold medals in both events.
India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, and Afghanistan have shared all but one of the medals till date. The lone exception to this is Japan, the 2026 hosts. In the women’s bronze medal match of 2010, they restricted China to 65-6 and chased the total with seven wickets and five balls in hand.
| Year | Hosts | Women’s | Men’s | ||||
| Gold | Silver | Bronze | Gold | Silver | Bronze | ||
| 2010 | Guangzhou (China) | Pakistan | Bangladesh | Japan | Bangladesh | Afghanistan | Pakistan |
| 2014 | Incheon (South Korea) | Pakistan | Bangladesh | Sri Lanka | Sri Lanka | Afghanistan | Bangladesh |
| 2022 (2023) | Hangzhou (China) | India | Sri Lanka | Bangladesh | India | Afghanistan | Bangladesh |
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