Hangzhou, China, September 26, 2023: India will be aiming for a golden double in cricket when the men’s competition gets underway at the Zhejiang University of Technology Pingfeng Cricket Field on Wednesday, September 27.
India, led by dashing opener Ruturaj Gaikwad, will be hoping to emulate the women’s team which struck gold in their Asian Games debut when they beat Sri Lanka by 19 runs in the final on Monday.
India are competing for the first time at the Asian Games having declined to send teams on the previous two occasions the sport was included in the continental Games.
The men’s competition begins with the preliminary rounds where nine teams from the associate countries are split into three pools and will be bidding for quarterfinal places. They are Nepal, Mongolia, Maldives, Japan, Cambodia, Hong Kong China, Malaysia, Singapore and Thailand.
The top four ranked Asian teams – India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh – will go directly into the quarterfinals.
With the ICC World Cup (50 overs) starting on October 5 in India, the top nations haven’t sent their leading players, but the depth in Indian cricket will make the debutants the strong favourites to lift the gold medal.
Gaikwad will have a number of fellow-IPL (Indian Premier League) stars in his side including batsmen Rinku Singh, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Rahul Tripati, allrounders Washington Sundar and Shivam Dube, and bowlers Arshdeep Singh and Avesh Khan.
The star-studded team will be coached by former Indian Test batsman V.V.S. Laxman.
Defending gold medallists Sri Lanka will field a young team with only four of the 15 members having an international cap to their name. Sahan Arachchige will captain a side including Ashen Bandara the most experienced with 11 white-ball games under his belt.
Others with international experience are Nuwanidu Fernando and Nuwan Thushara with four games each, while skipper Arachchige has played two one-day internationals. All eyes will be on young batsmen Lasith Croospulle and Shevon Daniel, both exciting stroke players.
Pakistan will also send a young team captained by 20-year-old Qasim Akram while Bangladesh, gold medallists when cricket made its Asian Games debut at the 2010 Guangzhou Games, will be led by top order batsman Saif Hassan.
