Tokyo, April 29
Cricket has been confirmed for the 2026 edition of the Asian Games to be held in Japan next year in September-October, the Olympic Council of Asia (OCA) announced on Tuesday.
A press note on OCA's official website said that cricket and Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) are set to be included in the competition.
"The latest development in the compilation of the sports programme came at the 41st meeting of the AINAGOC Board of Directors at Nagoya City Hall on Monday, April 28, when cricket and Mixed Martial Arts were both formally approved," the press note said.
"The venue for cricket will be in Aichi prefecture, but the exact location has not been decided. Interest will be high, not only because of cricket's popularity in South Asia in particular but also because the T20 (20 overs per side) format will be included in the Los Angeles Olympic Games in 2028. This will be cricket's first appearance in the Olympics since 1900 in Paris, where Great Britain beat France by 158 runs in the final of the two-team tournament," it added.
Cricket has been a part of Asian Games for 2010, 2014 and 2022 editions. It became a medal sport in 2010, with Bangladesh getting the gold and Afghanistan bringing the silver in men's action. Pakistan got the bronze medal. During the 2014 edition in Incheon, Sri Lanka captured the gold, Afghanistan got silver while Bangladesh took home the bronze. Pakistan won the gold medal in women's cricket in the women's cricket competition across both games.
The 2022 edition of the competition saw India participating and winning the gold medal, featuring T20 stars like Ruturaj Gaikwad, Rinku Singh, Tilak Varma and Yashasvi Jaiswal among others in men's cricket. Afghanistan once again got the silver while Bangladesh took home silver. India also took home the gold in the women's competition, with Sri Lanka getting silver and Bangladesh getting bronze.
- ANI