Rain washes out Nepal-Japan match, India to face Afghanistan in Asian Games quarterfinal
India will meet Afghanistan in the men's cricket quarterfinal on September 28 after rain cancelled the Nepal-Japan group match and reshuffled the standings.
There is big news for cricket fans at the ongoing Asian Games 2026 in Japan. India will now face Afghanistan in the quarterfinal of the men's cricket event. The high-voltage match will be played on September 28.
India once again faces a strong Afghanistan side. A few days ago, India and Afghanistan played a three-match T20 series in which India whitewashed Afghanistan.
The group-stage match between Nepal and Japan had to be cancelled due to rain. With the match cancelled, Nepal moved to the top of the points table on net run rate, while Afghanistan came in second. Japan slipped to third in the points table. With Afghanistan finishing second, the quarterfinal draw pitted India against Afghanistan. Fans will once again get to watch an India versus Afghanistan match. Everyone is hoping India will win gold this time.
The Indian cricket team, which begins its campaign directly from the quarterfinal, now has only the gold medal as its target. India will take the field this Asian Games with the sole aim of winning gold. The September 28 match against Afghanistan will be a knockout game. The winner will secure a place in the semifinal. India has been playing impressively in the competition, while Afghanistan has already lost to Nepal in the group stage. Afghanistan will also take the field hoping for a win.
India's squad for the Asian Games includes Shreyas Iyer (captain), Abhishek Sharma, Sanju Samson, Ishan Kishan, Shivam Dube, Tilak Varma, Vipraj Nigam, Axar Patel, Washington Sundar, Ravi Bishnoi, Jasprit Bumrah, Harshit Rana, Arshdeep Singh and Vaibhav Suryavanshi.
