In October, Indian cricket faces a packed schedule as the Asian Games 2026 men’s cricket tournament unfolds. India will enter the quarter-finals directly on September 28, with the semi-finals scheduled for October 1. The medal matches will take place on October 3 in Aichi-Nagoya, Japan. On the same day, India will also compete in the third ODI against the West Indies in New Chandigarh. If India progresses to the final in the Asian Games, it will mark a rare occurrence where two Indian teams play on the same day in different countries. Notably, the cricket matches at the Asian Games will be held in T20 format.
The Indian men’s team is expected to reach Japan before September 22. Iyer was appointed the ODI team’s vice-captain in October 2025. India men’s cricket squad for the Asian Games 2026: Shreyas Iyer (captain), Abhishek Sharma , Sanju Samson (wicket-keeper), Ishan Kishan (wicket-keeper), Shivam Dube , Tilak Varma (vice-captain), Nitish Kumar Reddy, Axar Patel , Washington Sundar , Varun Chakaravarthy , Ravi Bishnoi , Jasprit Bumrah , Harshit Rana , Arshdeep Singh, Vaibhav Sooryavanshi .
I wish them every success and hope they win gold medals and bring glory to the nation,” Manhas told ANI. On that day, the Shreyas Iyer -led India will face Japan. Iyer, apart from being the T20I team captain, is also the ODI team vice-captain. But he will be absent from India’s next ODI series against the West Indies, which starts in September. The reason for this is that Iyer will be busy with Asian Games duties. “I wish them all the very best, not just the cricket teams, but our entire contingent heading to the Asian Games. I hope they give their best performance. The entire country is behind them, and so are we. “Absolutely, there will be a full effort from the team. Given the hard work they have put in and the enthusiasm within the squad, I am confident they can win gold and make the country proud,” he added.
