Rain washes out India-Afghanistan quarterfinal, India through to semis on ranking

The Indian men's cricket team has reached the semifinals of the Asian Games 2026 without playing a ball. The quarterfinal against Afghanistan could not even reach the toss, as continuous rain left the ground unfit for play. The BCCI said the match between India and Afghanistan had to be called off due to rain.

When the match referee announced the cancellation at Karogi Athletic Park, the captains of both teams were seen shaking hands. This means Afghanistan's campaign has ended, while India has advanced further in the race for the gold medal.

The question now is how India reached the semifinals despite the match being cancelled. Matches being called off due to rain is not new in cricket. In such situations, the rankings and points of both teams are considered. Since a result is required in a knockout match, India was deemed to have qualified for the semifinals on the basis of its higher ranking. According to the current ICC rankings, India is the world's number one T20 team, while Afghanistan is ranked 10th.

Continuous rain in Japan has disrupted several sporting events, with cricket the worst affected. Wet grounds have forced matches to be postponed. Before India's match too, there was heavy rain in Nishin, and dense clouds just before the match forced officials to call it off. India thus made it to the semifinals on the strength of its higher ranking.

India's team is considered a strong contender to win gold at these Asian Games. India had won gold at the previous Asian Games as well, and the Indian women's team has already secured a gold medal.

Earlier, apart from India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh had received direct entry into the quarterfinals, that is, the knockout round, while the group matches were played among Hong Kong, Japan, Afghanistan, Malaysia and Oman.

Indian squad: Shreyas Iyer (captain), Tilak Varma, Ravi Bishnoi, Abhishek Sharma, Jasprit Bumrah, Sanju Samson, Axar Patel, Ishan Kishan, Washington Sundar, Arshdeep Singh, Shivam Dube, Vaibhav Suryavanshi, Vipraj Nigam, Yash Thakur.