India and Pakistan will avoid an early clash in the cricket competition at the 2026 Asian Games, with any meeting between the arch-rivals possible only in a medal match.
In the men’s event, India and Pakistan are the top two seeds and have been placed in separate sections of the draw. This means they can only face each other in the gold-medal match or the bronze-medal playoff.
The same format has been used for the women’s competition, where a potential India-Pakistan encounter can also only take place in the final or the third-place match.
The Asian Games will run from September 19 to October 4, while the cricket competition will be held from September 17 to October 3 at Paloma Mizuho Stadium in Nagoya. All matches will be played in the T20 format.
The women’s competition will begin first, with the final scheduled for September 22, before the men’s event takes center stage.
The men’s tournament features 10 teams. India, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka have been seeded directly into the quarterfinals, while Afghanistan, Nepal, Hong Kong, China, Japan, Malaysia and Oman will compete for the remaining knockout places.
Pakistan have been placed in Quarterfinal 1, while India will play Quarterfinal 2. Both matches are scheduled for September 28, with their opponents to be decided through the group stage.
The winner of Quarterfinal 1 will face the winner of Quarterfinal 4 in the semifinal, while the winner of Quarterfinal 2 will take on the winner of Quarterfinal 3. Both semifinals will be played on October 1.
The gold-medal and bronze-medal matches are scheduled for October 3, providing the only possible stage for an India-Pakistan clash in the men’s competition.
In the women’s event, India are the top seeds, while Pakistan are seeded fourth behind Sri Lanka and Bangladesh.
India will face Japan in the quarterfinals and could meet either Bangladesh or Hong Kong, China, in the semifinals.
Pakistan will take on Thailand in their quarterfinal, with either Sri Lanka or Malaysia awaiting them in the semifinals if they progress.
That keeps the two rivals apart until the medal matches on September 22.
India have already announced their squads for both competitions, with Shreyas Iyer set to captain the men’s team and Harmanpreet Kaur leading the women’s side.
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