Reports: BCCI likely to field both men’s and women’s teams at Hangzhou Asian Games

With cricket to be a part of the Asian Games again this year in China's Hangzhou, there are several reports already circulating that the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) might send both a men's and a women's team to represent India at the much-anticipated event.

The multi-sport event will be held in China’s Hangzhou from September 23 to October 8. It has also been learned that the sport will be played in the T20 format at the Asian Games.

Furthermore, it is also expected that the men’s team will be a B squad, as the senior players will be competing in the upcoming ODI World Cup that India will host and will be played between October 5 and November 23. The reports also state that the BCCI will be forwarding the respective squads to the Indian Olympic Association by June 30.

As per a report published in The Indian Express, the BCCI will field both the men’s and women’s Indian cricket teams for the upcoming Asian Games 2022. 

It is also worth noting that cricket was part of the Asian Games in both 2010 and 2014; however, the BCCI did not field a team back then. Furthermore, the sport was left out of the event in 2018, but is now finally making its return in Hangzhou. Furthermore, the Asian Games were supposed to be held in 2022 but were postponed due to China’s zero-COVID policy.

In the earlier editions of the Asian Games, the BCCI cited its pre-decided schedule as the reason to not sending teams to the Games, and India’s chef de mission for the Asian Games, Bhupender Bajwa, came forward to reflect upon the same. 

"We have entries in all sports except one – cricket (team) isn’t going, they said they are preoccupied. We sent around 3-4 emails to them but when we had to send entries to the organisers, they said they won’t go," Bhupender Bajwa was quoted as saying by The Indian Express. 

Furthermore, the reports also stated that there is not much clarity over whether the BCCI will be sending its women’s team to the Asian Games, however, it could be interesting to see what the final verdict turns out to be.