Kathmandu: The International Cricket Council (ICC) has announced that it will send men’s and women’s teams to participate in the Asian Games, which will be held in Hangzhou, China, in September 2023. The ICC has confirmed this news through a tweet. Along with this, Nepal will also be able to play T20 matches against India. Nepal will also participate in the Asian Cup this year with the national team of India. The Asian Games will begin just six days after the conclusion of the Asian Cup.
Furthermore, the Asian Games will overlap with the ICC Cricket World Cup 2023. To accommodate this overlap, the ICC has decided to exclude players participating in the World Cup from the Asian Games. This will allow additional Asian athletes to participate in the multi-sport event. This will be the first time that the Indian cricket team will participate in the Asian Games.
The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has confirmed that the men’s and women’s cricket teams will participate in the 2023 Asian Games scheduled to be held in Hangzhou, China. The Asian Games will take place from September 23 to October 8 this year. India will send a team for cricket competition for the first time in the Asian Games. Along with this, the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup will also start from October 5 in India, allowing other players to participate in the Asian Games.
Cricket will be included in the Asian Games in two formats. However, it was not included in the previous edition held in Jakarta in 2018. Cricket will be played in the T20 format in Hangzhou. According to media reports, Shikhar Dhawan is likely to captain the Indian men’s cricket team in the 2022 Asian Games. Along with this, it is expected that Rahul Dravid will be appointed as the coach by the National Cricket Academy (NCA).
The BCCI has agreed to send both men’s and women’s teams for this competition. However, due to the overlap with the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup (October 5 to November 19), the men’s team will be a second-string squad going to China. The women’s team will be a full-strength squad. If players like Ruturaj Gaikwad and Yashasvi Jaiswal are not selected for the World Cup, they will also have the opportunity to participate in the Asian Games.
Although the 19th Asian Games were originally scheduled to be held from September 10 to 25 last year, they were canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. These games will now take place for the third time in China. Beijing hosted the Asian Games in 1990, and Guangzhou hosted them in 2010.
Cricket will be organized for the third time in the Asian Games. Cricket programs were also held in 2010 and 2014, but neither the men’s nor the women’s teams were sent by the BCCI. Bangladesh and Pakistan won the gold medal in men’s cricket in 2010 and 2014, respectively. Sri Lanka won the gold medal in men’s cricket in 2014, while Pakistan won the gold medal in women’s cricket.