India’s ODI side will be without Shreyas Iyer and Jasprit Bumrah for the upcoming three-match series against the West Indies as the two players are set to be involved in the Asian Games 2026 in Aichi-Nagoya, Japan.
Iyer, who is India’s T20I captain and Shubman Gill’s deputy in the ODI setup, will lead the Indian men’s cricket team at the Asian Games. Bumrah, meanwhile, is also part of the squad for the continental event.
The decision means India will have to manage two international assignments at the same time. In an exclusive conversation with The Daily Jagran, BCCI vice-president Rajeev Shukla confirmed that India will send its main team to the Asian Games. This also clears the way for Bumrah to feature in the tournament.
The Asian Games schedule has created an unusual situation for Indian cricket. India will begin its campaign on September 22 against hosts Japan before entering the quarter-finals on September 28.
If India reach the semi-finals on October 1 and then make it to the gold medal match on October 3, Iyer and the rest of the Asian Games squad could be playing on the same day as India’s ODI team takes on the West Indies in the third and final ODI in New Chandigarh.
It means two Indian teams could be in action on the same day, in two different countries.
The men’s cricket competition at the 2026 Asian Games will feature 10 teams. Nepal, Japan and Afghanistan are in Group A, while Oman, Malaysia and Hong Kong China make up Group B.
The top two teams from each group will move into the quarter-finals, where they will be joined by four directly seeded teams — India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh.
The knockout stage begins on September 28. Pakistan will face the Group B runner-up, while India will take on the Group A runner-up. The remaining two quarter-finals will be played the following day, with Sri Lanka facing the Group A winner and Bangladesh taking on the Group B topper.
The semi-finals are scheduled for October 1, followed by the gold medal match on October 3.
The Aichi-Nagoya Games will be the fourth edition of the Asian Games to feature cricket. The sport first appeared at Guangzhou 2010 and was also part of the 2014 Asian Games in Incheon. Cricket was not included at Jakarta 2018 but returned at Hangzhou 2023.
Both men’s and women’s cricket have been played in the T20 format at the previous editions.
India enjoyed a memorable campaign at the 2023 Asian Games in Hangzhou, winning gold in both competitions. The women’s team defeated Sri Lanka by 19 runs in the final, while the men’s team were awarded gold after rain brought their final against Afghanistan to an early end.
Men's cricket schedule for the Asian Games 2026
| Date | Match | Round | Time |
| September 24, Thursday | Afghanistan vs Japan | Group A | 5:30 AM |
| September 24, Thursday | Hong Kong China vs Malaysia | Group B | 10:30 AM |
| September 25, Friday | Hong Kong China vs Oman | Group B | 5:30 AM |
| September 25, Friday | Afghanistan vs Nepal | Group A | 10:30 AM |
| September 26, Saturday | Japan vs Nepal | Group A | 5:30 AM |
| September 26, Saturday | Malaysia vs Oman | Group B | 10:30 AM |
| September 28, Monday | Pakistan vs B2 | Quarter-final | 5:30 AM |
| September 28, Monday | India vs A2 | Quarter-final | 10:00 AM |
| September 29, Tuesday | Sri Lanka vs A1 | Quarter-final | 5:30 AM |
| September 29, Tuesday | Bangladesh vs B1 | Quarter-final | 10:00 AM |
| October 1, Thursday | Pakistan/B2 vs Bangladesh/B1 | Semi-final | 5:30 AM |
| October 1, Thursday | India/A2 vs Sri Lanka/A1 | Semi-final | 10:00 AM |
| October 3, Saturday | Bronze medal match | Third-place playoff | 5:30 AM |
| October 3, Saturday | Gold medal match | Final | 10:00 AM |
India's squad for Asian Games 2026
Shreyas Iyer (c), Abhishek Sharma, Sanju Samson, Ishan Kishan, Shivam Dube, Tilak Varma, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Axar Patel, Washington Sundar, Varun Chakaravarthy, Ravi Bishnoi, Jasprit Bumrah, Harshit Rana, Arshdeep Singh, Vaibhav Sooryavanshi