Vaibhav Sooryavanshi and Ravi Bishnoi, part of the Rajasthan Royals setup in the Indian Premier League, will be part of India’s title defence in the men’s cricket competition at the Asian Games 2026 in Aichi-Nagoya, Japan.
The Indian cricket team will begin its campaign directly in the quarter-finals against Afghanistan at the Korogi Sports Park in Nisshin on Monday. The match starts at 10:30 AM Indian Standard Time (IST).
India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh received direct entry into the quarter-finals as the four seeded teams, while Afghanistan progressed from the preliminary stage as the Group A runners-up.
The Asian Games men’s cricket competition features 10 teams and is being played in the T20 format, with all matches taking place at the Korogi Sports Park in Nisshin.
The women’s cricket competition was also held at the same venue from September 17 to 22, with India retaining the gold medal after beating Sri Lanka in the final.
Sooryavanshi and Bishnoi are the only two players from Rajasthan Royals’ IPL 2026 squad competing in the men’s cricket tournament.
The 15-year-old Sooryavanshi has enjoyed a breakthrough year for the Royals and India. He finished IPL 2026 with 776 runs in 16 matches at a strike rate of 237.30 before making his senior international debut.
The left-hander was subsequently India’s leading run-scorer during their 3-0 T20I series victory in Zimbabwe, amassing 151 runs in three matches at an average of 50.33 and a strike rate of 196.10. He struck two half-centuries, including a career-best 81 off 49 balls.
Bishnoi, meanwhile, heads into the Asian Games on the back of a productive outing against Afghanistan earlier this month.
The leg-spinner claimed four wickets across his two appearances in India’s 3-0 T20I series sweep, including figures of 3/26 in the third match as Afghanistan were bowled out for 94.
India followed up that series victory with a two-run win over hosts Japan in a rain-shortened five-over T20I in Sano on September 22, their final competitive outing before the Asian Games.
India and Afghanistan also met in the gold medal match at the previous Asian Games. The contest was abandoned due to rain, with India taking gold based on their higher tournament seeding.
Should India beat Afghanistan, they will take on the winner of the Sri Lanka vs Nepal quarter-final in the semi-finals on October 1.
Nepal topped Group A after beating Afghanistan by five wickets before their final group match against hosts Japan was washed out.
Where to watch Asian Games 2026 cricket live in India
Live streaming of the Asian Games 2026 cricket matches will be available on Sony LIV. India’s Asian Games 2026 cricket matches will be telecast live on the Sony Sports 1 and Sony Sports 5 TV channels in India. Live broadcast will be in Hindi on Sony Sports 3 and regional-language coverage on Sony Sports 4.
Asian Games 2026 India cricket schedule
All times in Indian Standard Time (IST)
- September 28, Monday: India vs Afghanistan, quarter-final - 10:30 AM
- October 1, Thursday: Semi-finals - 5:30 AM* and 10:30 AM*
- October 3, Saturday: Bronze medal match - 5:30 AM*
- October 3, Saturday: Gold medal match - 10:30 AM*
*Subject to India progressing in the competition.
India squad for Asian Games 2026 men’s cricket
Indian cricket team: Shreyas Iyer (captain), Abhishek Sharma, Sanju Samson (wicket-keeper), Ishan Kishan (wicket-keeper), Shivam Dube, Tilak Varma (vice-captain), Axar Patel, Washington Sundar, Ravi Bishnoi, Jasprit Bumrah, Arshdeep Singh, Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, Yash Thakur, Vipraj Nigam.
