2026 Asian Games: Cricket gets retained for event in Japan
What's the story
Cricket has officially been retained for the 2026 Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games, set to take place in Japan from September 19 to October 4.
The Olympic Council of Asia (OCA) confirmed the decision during the 41st AINAGOC Board of Directors meeting held at Nagoya City Hall on April 28.
Along with cricket, Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) has also been approved and will debut at the event.
Here are further details.
Past participation
Cricket's history in Asian Games
This is the fourth time cricket has been included in Asian Games.
Cricket's first two Asian Games appearances, Guangzhou 2010 and Incheon 2014, were not granted international status.
However, when the sport returned at the 2023 Hangzhou Games, matches were officially recognized as T20 internationals.
In the men's competition, India claimed gold, with Afghanistan securing silver and Bangladesh taking bronze.
Notably, in the women's competition, India and Bangladesh were once again gold and silver medalists while Sri Lanka bagged silver.
Format recognition
Cricket's T20 format gains popularity
The T20 format of cricket is creating a lot of buzz as it will be part of the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics.
This will be cricket's first Olympic appearance since 1900 in Paris, where Great Britain beat France.
Meanwhile, South Asian teams have dominated this sport at previous Asian Games, with Bangladesh winning men's gold in 2010 and Sri Lanka winning it in 2014.
Preparation meetings
AINAGOC prepares for the 2026 Asian Games
Meanwhile, the Olympic Council of Asia and AINAGOC are gearing up for two important meetings in Nagoya, Japan, ahead of the Asian Games.
These are the 1st Technical Delegates Meeting and the 3rd OCA Coordination Committee Meeting.
More than 350 participants will deliberate on preparations for an event comprising 41 sports and nearly 15,000 athletes from 45 National Olympic Committees.
2022 Asian games
India claim gold in 2023 Asian games
In a rain-hit final at the 2023 Asian Games, top-seeded India clinched gold after the match was abandoned with Afghanistan on 112/5 in 18.5 overs.
Shahidullah top-scored with an unbeaten 49 off 43. As the higher-seeded team, India were awarded the win.
For India, Yashasvi Jaiswal finished as the highest scorer with 100 runs in two innings and Ravi Bishnoi led the bowling charts with five wickets in three matches.