India’s men’s cricket team advanced to the Asian Games 2026 semi-finals on September 28 without taking the field, after rain abandoned their quarter-final against Afghanistan at Korogi Sports Park in Nisshin just 16 minutes before the scheduled toss.

India, ranked No. 1 in the ICC T20I rankings, progressed on higher seeding. The defending champions will face the winner of the Nepal-Sri Lanka quarter-final in the October 1 semi-final. It was the second straight Asian Games heartbreak for Afghanistan: at Hangzhou 2023 they settled for silver when the final against India was washed out after 18.2 overs.

Pakistan also progressed through a washout, over Hong Kong China, and will face the Bangladesh-Malaysia winner. An India-Pakistan gold-medal final on October 3 remains possible.

India’s women have already defended their gold medal, with Harmanpreet Kaur’s side beating Sri Lanka by 147 runs in the final. The men’s squad is captained by Shreyas Iyer, with VVS Laxman serving as stand-in coach.