India eye Asian Games semifinal against Afghanistan

India begin their Asian Games gold medal defence against a second-string Afghanistan side in the quarterfinals. The near-full-strength Indian team will look to adapt quickly to conditions in Japan after being pushed hard by the hosts in their previous match

Nisshin: A near-full-strength India will face a second-string Afghanistan side in the second quarterfinal of the cricket event at the Asian Games 2026 at Korogi Sports Park here on Monday, with the defending champions beginning their gold-medal defence.

India have opted to send their first-choice T20I team for the continental showpiece, meaning some of their ODI regulars will miss the ongoing three-match ODI series against the West Indies at home.

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India are not only the defending Asian Games champions but also the reigning T20 World champions. This is a stronger side than the one India sent to the Hangzhou Games in 2023, where a second-string team led by Ruturaj Gaikwad won the gold medal.

India have since set several batting benchmarks in T20 cricket and now also have teenage sensation Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, who has made an impact early in his international career.

Afghanistan, meanwhile, are fielding a second-string side led by 33-T20I veteran Darwish Rasooli, with several relatively new faces in the squad.

They reached the quarterfinals after a win over Japan and a loss to Nepal in the group stage, finishing second in Group A. Afghanistan were beaten heavily by Nepal in their second game and now face a much stronger Indian side on paper.

However, India have not had everything go their way in Japan.

They were given a major scare in the rain-hit one-off T20I against Japan, managing just 32/4 in five overs before scraping through with a two-run win.

The Indian team will need to adapt quickly to the conditions, having struggled to do so during their recent tours of Ireland and England, where they lost all six completed T20Is.

The playing combination will also be closely watched. Sanju Samson is likely to continue opening alongside Abhishek Sharma after the duo registered half-centuries against Afghanistan, which could leave Sooryavanshi waiting for his opportunity in Japan.

It will also be interesting to see whether Jasprit Bumrah returns to the playing XI after being rested for the Japan T20I.

Key Details:

When: Monday, Sep 28, 10 am IST
Where: Korogi Sports Park, Nisshin
Where to watch: Live on Sony Sports Network; streaming on the Sony LIV app and website

Squads:

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

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