Bangladesh Secure Direct Asian Games Cricket QF Spot

Bangladesh have secured direct qualification for the men's cricket quarter-finals at the 2026 Asian Games alongside India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka.

The men's T20 competition will begin on September 24 in Nagoya, with a six-team preliminary round to determine the remaining four quarter-finalists.

In the preliminary stage, Afghanistan, Japan and Nepal have been drawn in Group A, while Hong Kong, Malaysia and Oman will compete in Group B. The top two teams from each group will advance to the quarter-finals, joining the four seeded teams.

The women's cricket tournament will be held from September 17 to 22 and will begin directly from the quarter-final stage.

Bangladesh will open their campaign against China, while defending champions India will face hosts Japan. Sri Lanka will take on Malaysia, and Pakistan will meet Thailand.

All matches in both the men's and women's competitions will be played in the T20 format.

At the previous Asian Games in Hangzhou, held in 2023 after being postponed because of the Covid-19 pandemic, India won both the men's and women's cricket gold medals.

Bangladesh's men's team finished fourth after losing to Pakistan in the bronze-medal match, while the women's team also missed out on a medal after losing to Pakistan in the third-place playoff.