India and Pakistan Face Off for Asian Games Cricket Gold Medal

India and Pakistan contested the men's cricket gold medal match at the 2026 Asian Games on October 3 at Korogi Sports Park in Nisshin, Japan, with the match played in Twenty20 format. Both teams arrived at the final unbeaten in the tournament. India, the defending champions from the 2023 Asian Games in Hangzhou, advanced to the final after their quarterfinal against Afghanistan was abandoned due to rain, progressing via higher seeding in ICC T20I rankings. They then defeated Sri Lanka by 124 runs in the semifinals, posting 169/7 before dismissing their opponents for 45 in 9.5 overs. Pakistan also advanced from a rain-washed quarterfinal against Hong Kong, China, and beat Bangladesh by six wickets in a rain-reduced semifinal, chasing 112 in 11.3 overs.

The match was scheduled to begin at 1:30 PM local time (10:00 AM IST / 04:30 GMT). India won the toss and elected to bat. According to tournament rules, if the match was completely abandoned due to rain with no result, both teams would share the gold medal—a change from the 2023 edition, when India were awarded gold after their final against Afghanistan was washed out. Weather forecasts leading into the match indicated largely dry conditions with rain probability below 5%, though rain had disrupted earlier cricket competition at the Games.

Key players for India included 15-year-old batting prodigy Vaibhav Sooryavanshi and middle-order batter Ishan Kishan, who scored an unbeaten 80 off 46 balls in the semifinal. For Pakistan, left-arm wrist-spin bowler Sufyan Moqim took 3 for 26 in the semifinal, while Abdul Samad contributed an unbeaten 30 off 15 balls in that match. India's captain was Shreyas Iyer, while Pakistan's captain was Sahibzada Farhan. In T20I head-to-head history, India led with 13 wins, Pakistan had 3 wins, and there was 1 tie from 17 meetings. India had not lost to Pakistan in any format in 10 consecutive games, including a 61-run victory in their most recent T20 World Cup group-stage meeting in February 2026.