The 2026 Asian Games men's cricket competition will end the way most of Asian cricket hoped it would: with India and Pakistan meeting in the gold-medal final. Both semi-finals were played at Korogi Sports Park in Nisshin, Japan, on October 1, and the two results could hardly have looked more different — one a lopsided demolition, the other a rain-affected squeaker.
In the second semi-final, India posted 169 for 7 in their 20 overs, built on an unbeaten 80 off 46 balls from Ishan Kishan and an early assault of 38 off 21 balls from Vaibhav Sooryavanshi. Sri Lanka's reply never got going: they were bowled out for just 45 in 9.5 overs, with Jasprit Bumrah (2 for 7), Axar Patel (2 for 8) and Abhishek Sharma (2 for 2) sharing the damage. The 124-run win is the most emphatic of the tournament's knockout matches and sends India's men into the final a week after India's women already won gold in the Asian Games cricket event at the same Games.
The first semi-final between Pakistan and Bangladesh was reduced to 13 overs a side after a slushy outfield delayed the start. Bangladesh made 111 for 7, with Towhid Hridoy top-scoring on a 25-ball 42 that included four sixes, while left-arm spinner Sufyan Moqim took 3 for 26 for Pakistan. Chasing 112, Pakistan slipped to 53 for 4 before an unbroken fifth-wicket stand between Abdul Samad (30 not out off 15) and Hasan Nawaz (27 not out off 22) carried them home by six wickets with nine balls to spare. It is the first time Pakistan have reached an Asian Games cricket final.
India and Pakistan have not previously met in an Asian Games cricket gold-medal match, which gives Saturday's final added weight beyond the medal itself. The two teams are scheduled to play at Korogi Sports Park on October 3, with the match starting at 2:00pm Japan Standard Time — 10:30am IST and 10:00am PKT. Both sides arrive with form on their side after comfortable semi-final routes, though Pakistan's chase showed their batting can wobble under pressure, something India's bowling attack — fronted by Bumrah — will look to exploit early.
India's squad for the tournament blends senior pace options like Bumrah with younger white-ball talent such as Sooryavanshi and Ishan Kishan, giving the side depth across both the powerplay and the death overs. That balance showed up directly in the Sri Lanka semi-final, where India's top order set the total and the bowling unit finished the contest inside ten overs. Pakistan, by contrast, needed their middle order to bail them out of early trouble against Bangladesh — a pattern that, if repeated against a stronger Indian attack, could decide the final.
Asian Games cricket golds carry less weight on the international calendar than a bilateral series or an ICC event, but an India-Pakistan final at a multi-sport Games — with both broadcast and public interest guaranteed — is still a marquee occasion, and it arrives in the same week India wrapped up a dominant ODI series win over West Indies. For a squad featuring fringe internationals and emerging players, a gold medal against Pakistan would be a significant addition to several individual résumés heading into a busy home season.
Live scores and build-up from Nisshin are available on SportGod's live matches page, with AI-powered previews on SportGod's predictions page and fantasy team-building tools on SportGod's free games. More tournament coverage, including the earlier Irani Cup preview, is on SportGod's blog.
Semi-final scorecards, player figures and the final's schedule are verified against same-day and freshly re-checked reporting, current as of October 1, 2026.
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