October presents Indian cricket with a unique scenario. On the same day, the third ODI between India and the West Indies will be played in New Chandigarh. If India qualify for the final, two Indian teams will be playing on the same day in different countries. The cricket matches in Asian Games will be played in the T20 format.
In the Asian Games 2026 men’s cricket tournament, India will directly enter the quarter-finals on September 28. The semi-finals will be held on October 1, while the medal-round matches will be played on October 3 in Aichi-Nagoya, Japan.
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.
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.
