Asian Games Men's Cricket 2023

A total 15 teams are set to battle it out in the quest of winning gold in the men’s cricket event at the 2023 Asian Games. Cricket wasn’t a part of the 2018 Asian Games in Jakarta, but it is back and the sports fanatics in Hangzhou, China will get to witness the top teams in action in the 19th edition of the global event. Cricket's debut in the Asian Games took place in 2010 in Guangzhou and the sport was also part of the 2014 edition in Incheon.

The men’s cricket event commences on September 27. The bronze medal match and the gold medal match will be played on October 7. All the matches will be played at the Zhejiang University of Technology Pingfeng Cricket Field, China and in the T20 format.

Top Asian teams like India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, and Bangladesh will start directly from the quarterfinals thanks to their respective ICC T20I team rankings. India are the top-ranked team in the world in the shortest format of the game, while Pakistan are placed at No. 3. Sri Lanka and Bangladesh are positioned at No. 8 and 9, respectively.

As the ODI World Cup gets underway on October 5, these four nations have decided to field second-string sides in the Asian Games. However, there are quite a few players on each side who have decent experience of playing international cricket.

The remaining 11 teams - Afghanistan, Mongolia, Cambodia, Japan, Nepal, Hong Kong, China, Singapore, Thailand, Malaysia, Bahrain, and Maldives - have been divided into four groups. Only the group winners will progress to the quarterfinals. The first match in the men's cricket event is going to be played between Nepal and Japan on September 27. Two matches will be played on each day, with September 30 and October 5 being the only two rest days.

The quarterfinals begin on October 3 with India taking on one of the qualifying teams. Later, on the same day, Pakistan will be in action against another qualifying team. Sri Lanka and Bangladesh will start their campaign on the following day.