Asian Games: Shreyas Iyer-led India eye winning start against Afghanistan

Defending champions India begin their Asian Games men's cricket campaign against Afghanistan in the quarterfinals on Monday. The full-strength Indian side will face an inexperienced Afghan team at Korogi Sports Park, with both teams adapting to unfamiliar conditions in Japan

Nisshin: Defending champions India will begin their Asian Games men’s cricket campaign against an inexperienced Afghanistan in the quarterfinals on Monday, with the Shreyas Iyer-led side looking to quickly acclimatise to unfamiliar conditions in Japan.

India will be wary of the surface at Korogi Sports Park, which also hosted the women’s competition won by Harmanpreet Kaur and Co. While the women’s tournament produced several high-scoring games, the men’s matches so far have not witnessed big totals.

---

India had a taste of the conditions during their one-off game against Japan in Sano on Tuesday, when the hosts pushed them to the limit on a turning track. Since then, the Indian players have had little cricketing activity.

The team has instead used the time to explore Japan. The players travelled from Tokyo to Nagoya on the iconic bullet train and appeared to enjoy the journey.

Being in a non-cricketing nation has also been a refreshing experience for most of the players.

“It has been beautiful,” Iyer told the BCCI website while travelling to Nagoya.

India have arrived in Japan with a full-strength squad, unlike at the previous Asian Games. Iyer is part of the side along with Jasprit Bumrah, Ishan Kishan, Abhishek Sharma and Axar Patel.

The decision to send a full-strength squad has drawn questions from some experts, given India’s focus on the 2027 ODI World Cup and the depth available in the shortest format.

India enter the competition directly at the quarterfinal stage, while Afghanistan have already played two group matches and have had a taste of the conditions. They beat Japan in their tournament opener before suffering a surprise defeat to Nepal.

Afghanistan, led by Darwish Rasooli, have brought an inexperienced squad, with six uncapped players included in the team. Their batting has been a concern and they will need a significant improvement to challenge India.

India will also have plenty of attention on 15-year-old Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, although he is unlikely to get a game with the team having established options in Abhishek Sharma and Sanju Samson.

Three wins in the knockout stage would give India a second successive men’s cricket gold medal at the Asian Games.

Unlike some other athletes, the Indian cricketers did not face difficulties with accommodation, with the BCCI handling the arrangements. The players are staying at a five-star hotel in central Nagoya.

Squads:

India: Shreyas Iyer (c), Tilak Varma, Ravi Bishnoi, Abhishek Sharma, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Jasprit Bumrah, Sanju Samson, Axar Patel, Ishan Kishan, Washington Sundar, Arshdeep Singh, Shivam Dube, Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, Vipraj Nigam, Yash Thakur.

Afghanistan: Darwish Rasooli (c), Mohammad Ishaq, Imran Mir, Najibullah Zadran, Ismat Alam, Karim Janat, Nangeyalia Kharoti, Abdullah Ahmadzai, Khalid Taniwal, Mohammad Akram, Faridoon Dawoodzai, Farmanullah Safi, Hassan Eisakhil, Faisal Shinozada, Arab Gul Momand.

The match starts at 10 a.m. IST.