# Asian Games 2026 cricket begins September 17, India squads announced 2026-09-17T05:37:02+00:00 | Sports | Indian Opinion Desk Corroboration: 2 independent outlets Cricket at the Asian Games 2026 in Aichi-Nagoya, Japan, begins on September 17 with women's quarterfinals, two days before the main Games open on September 19. The Harmanpreet Kaur-led Indian women's team plays Japan on September 18 in the fourth quarterfinal at the Korogi Sports Park in Nisshin. The women's gold medal match is set for September 22. The Shreyas Iyer-led men's team enters the quarterfinals directly on September 28. Both Indian teams are defending the gold medals they won in the 2023 edition in Hangzhou. The BCCI and IOA are sending 30 athletes for the cricket event. The men's squad includes Jasprit Bumrah, Sanju Samson and Axar Patel. The women's squad features Smriti Mandhana, Deepti Sharma and Richa Ghosh. Cricket is played in T20I format. The Games feature 43 sports, with surfing, teqball, MMA, padel and virtual taekwondo making their Asian Games debut. Sony Sports will telecast the event live in India, with streaming on Sony LIV. In other sports, India has announced its archery and hockey squads. The archery team for recurve and compound events includes Dhiraj Bommadevara and Jyothi Surekha Vennam, with experienced names Deepika Kumari and Atanu Das missing the cut. The men's hockey team, led by Harmanpreet Singh and coached by Craig Fulton, has one change from the World Cup squad: Raj Kumar Pal replaces Aditya Lalage. The women's hockey team, captained by Salima Tete, has no changes from its World Cup contingent. ## Indian Opinion Analysis All six source versions from the two outlets are uniform wire-style reporting. Sportstar's coverage across the schedule, squads, broadcasting and other sports articles provides the same factual detail: dates, venues, squads, and defending-champion status. NDTV Profit's piece is a promotional overview. Neither outlet carries any government slant, critical framing, or editorial opinion. The uniform straight reporting means readers can rely on the schedule and squads as published. With India defending gold in both men's and women's cricket, attention shifts to the September 18 women's quarterfinal against Japan and the men's quarterfinal against a to-be-determined opponent on September 28. ## Coverage - ndtvprofit.com (neutral report) Promotional overview of schedule and viewing details - sportstar.thehindu.com (neutral report) Factual hockey squad list with World Cup context - sportstar.thehindu.com (neutral report) Factual hockey squad list with World Cup context - sportstar.thehindu.com (neutral report) Factual hockey squad list with World Cup context - sportstar.thehindu.com (neutral report) Factual hockey squad list with World Cup context - sportstar.thehindu.com (neutral report) Factual hockey squad list with World Cup context Tags: Asian Games, Harmanpreet Kaur, India men's cricket team, India women's cricket team, Nagoya, Shreyas Iyer Canonical: https://indianopinion.org/asian-games-2026-womens-cricket-opens-september-17-india-play-japan/ License: Summary and commentary (c) Indian Opinion, reusable with attribution. Facts belong to the linked sources. Cite: https://indianopinion.org/asian-games-2026-womens-cricket-opens-september-17-india-play-japan/#story-in-brief