Cricket set to be part of 2026 Asian Games in Japan

The 20th Asian Games will take place in Japan in 2026 from September 19 to October 4, with cricket set to be a part of the multi-nation event. An official confirmation in this regard is expected during this week's meetings between the Olympic Council of Asia (OCA) and the organising committee (AINAGOC) of the Aichi-Nagoya Games.

"The OCA Board will still need to approve it. Although we think that is just a formality. But until they do it is not 100 percent," a Japan Cricket Association (JCA) official told Cricbuzz on Wednesday (April 30) ahead of the meetings. An OCA statement said "the meeting will run from Wednesday, April 30 to Friday, May 2, with the 3rd OCA Coordination Committee Meeting taking place over two days on May 1-2."

Cricket will be among the 41 sports at the Games, and 15,000 athletes and officials from the OCA's 45 National Olympic Committees will be part of it. The Indian men's and women's teams are the reigning gold medallists, having won the top medals in the 2022 Asian Games held in Hangzhou, China in September-October 2023. The previous edition was initially postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

A statement by the OCA says, "The latest development in the compilation of the sports programme came at the 41st meeting of the AINAGOC Board of Directors at Nagoya City Hall on Monday, April 28, when cricket and Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) were both formally approved."

Like last time, cricket will be played in the T20 format. A call on the exact number of teams taking part will be taken at the meetings. In the Hangzhou Games, 14 men and nine women teams took part in the competition.

A pertinent question arising at the moment is where the cricket matches will be held. The organisers might choose to go in with a modular stadium, taking a leaf out of the ICC's book. During the 2024 T20 World Cup, the cricket governing body used a modular stadium which was built on the grounds of Eisenhower Park in East Meadow, New York, in Nassau County on Long Island. The stand and modular infrastructure of the temporary stadium was dismantled after the marquee event. However, the cricket ground remains intact, with the drop-in pitch being replaced by artificial turf to ease maintenance. The JCA official said that the exact location will be decided during the meetings.

"The venue for cricket will be in Aichi prefecture but the exact location has not been decided. Interest will be high, not only because of cricket's popularity in South Asia in particular but also because the T20 (20 overs per side) format will be included in the Los Angeles Olympic Games in 2028. This will be cricket's first appearance in the Olympics since 1900 in Paris, where Great Britain beat France by 158 runs in the final of the two-team tournament," the OCA statement says.

India's men's team won the gold medal in the last edition under Ruturaj Gaikwad's leadership. The senior players were unavailable as they were preparing for the 2023 ODI World Cup. Meanwhile, a full-strength Indian women's team bagged the gold medal under Harmanpreet Kaurs captaincy.