Asian Games 2023: Everything you need to know about men’s and women’s T20 competition 

The Asian Games 2023 are set to take place in Hangzhou, China where a total of 40 sports will feature in the grand spectacle from September 23. It promises to be a great showcase of athletic abilities and cultural exchange as the athletes from various Asian countries compete to bring glory to their country.

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Among those 40 sports, cricket will also feature at the Asian Games for the third time after 2010 and 2014. Both editions had hosted men’s and women’s T20 competitions. Bangladesh were the winners in the men’s competition in 2010 while Sri Lanka clinched the gold medal in the second edition. In the women’s competition, Pakistan were victorious on both occasions. 

This will be the first time India will participate in cricket at the Asian Games, with the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) opting against sending either of the teams in the previous two editions. There will be high expectations on both men’s and women’s teams in this edition as they are favourites to win the gold.

Here’s everything you need to know about the Asian Games 2023 fixtures, the Indian squads and where to watch.

Where and when will the Asian Games cricket competitions take place? 

The Asian Games 2023 cricket competitions will be played at Zhejiang University of Technology Cricket Field in Hangzhou. The sport is scheduled to be hosted from September 19 to October 7.

Asian Games 2023 Participants in T20 competition 

Women’s cricket competition 

The women’s T20 competition at the Asian Games is scheduled to take place from September 19 to September 26. A total of 14 teams will compete in this tournament. 

India, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and Pakistan have automatically qualified for the quarter-finals on the basis of their T20I rankings while other teams battle it out for the remaining spots. Round one fixtures and two quarter-finals will be played before the opening ceremony, which takes place on September 23. 

14 teams that are set to compete in the women’s T20 competition at the Asian Games 2023 are as follows. 

• China (Host)
• India
• Bangladesh
• Sri Lanka
• Pakistan
• Thailand
• United Arab Emirates
• Indonesia 
• Nepal
• Hong Kong
• Malaysia
• Bhutan
• Oman
• Singapore

Men’s cricket competition 

The men’s T20 competition for the gold medal at the Asian Games 2023 will begin on September 29 and will conclude on October 7. There will be a total 18 teams participating in this tournament with 18 matches to be played. 

India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh have a direct entry into the quarter-finals due to their ICC rankings in T20I cricket. The rest of the teams along with the hosts China will compete for the remaining four spots. 

The 18 cricket teams which are confirmed to partake in the upcoming Asian Games are as follows.

• China (Host)
• India
• Bangladesh
• Sri Lanka
• Pakistan
• Afghanistan
• United Arab Emirates
• Nepal
• Hong Kong
• Oman
• Malaysia
• Qatar 
• Kuwait
• Bahrain
• Saudi Arabia
• Singapore
• Indonesia
• Bhutan

Team India women’s squad for Asian Games 2023

India women, who came painfully close to winning the gold at the Commonwealth Games last year, will be hoping to go one step further at the upcoming Asian Games. They will be led by none other than Harmanpreet Kaur with Smriti Mandhana as her deputy. Indian women have a full strength squad for the event and are easily the top contenders for the gold. 

Squad: Harmanpreet Kaur (C), Smriti Mandhana (VC), Shafali Verma, Jemimah Rodrigues, Deepti Sharma, Richa Ghosh (wk), Amanjot Kaur, Devika Vaidya, Anjali Sarvani, Titas Sadhu, Rajeshwari Gayakwad, Minnu Mani, Kanika Ahuja, Uma Chetry (wk), Anusha Bareddy

Team India men’s squad for Asian Games 2023

The BCCI will be sending a second-string side for the men’s competition at the Asian Games, with the main side preparing for the ODI World Cup. Ruturaj Gaikwad will lead the side with several top quality players alongside him. The likes of Yashasvi Jaiswal, Rinku Singh, Rahul Tripathi, Tilak Varma, Jitesh Sharma and Arshdeep Singh have all done well in recent times.

Squad: Ruturaj Gaikwad (Captain), Yashasvi Jaiswal, Rahul Tripathi, Tilak Varma, Rinku Singh, Jitesh Sharma (wk), Washington Sundar, Shahbaz Ahmed, Ravi Bishnoi, Avesh Khan, Arshdeep Singh, Mukesh Kumar, Shivam Mavi, Shivam Dube, Prabhsimran Singh (wk) 

Standbys: Yash Thakur, Sai Kishore, Venkatesh Iyer, Deepak Hooda, Sai Sudarsan.

Where to watch the Asian Games in India

For those living in India, the Asian Games 2023 will be televised on the Star Sports Network. You can watch the cricket matches on one of the several Star Sports TV channels such as Star Sports 1, Star Sports 2 and Star Sports Hindi. 

If you prefer online streaming then you can stream the matches live on Disney+ Hotstar. However, you must have a paid subscription to access this service. 

The Asian Games 2023: Schedule for Cricket competition 

Women’s Cricket Schedule

Men’s Cricket Schedule