Hangzhou, China, October 7, 2023: Newbies India won a gold medal in the men’s cricket competition at the Hangzhou Asian Games in anti-climactic fashion when they were awarded the match due to a superior seeding over opponents Afghanistan.
Rain proved the spoiler. Afghanistan, put into bat by Indian skipper Ruturaj Gaikwad, had reached 112 for five in 18.2 overs before the weather interrupted play.
The players never went back on to the field at the Zhejiang University of Technology Pingfeng Cricket Field as the rain never relented.
Weather had seen a number of matches in the early rounds of the women’s competition being won by teams with a better seeding. It was the case again on Saturday, the penultimate day at the 19th Asian Games, with India, the world number one team in Twenty20 Internationals, appearing for the first time at the Asian Games, winning the gold.
For the third time in a row, Afghanistan finished with the silver medal in the men’s competition. They had also won silver in 2010 and 2014.
“We are happy to win the gold medal although it is really unfortunate that the match had to end like this. But we will take the gold medal. We were quite confident of chasing anything. We knew the weather would play a role and that is why I put Afghanistan into bat,” said Indian skipper Ruturaj Gaikwad afterwards.
The victory meant a golden double for India in the cricket competition. The Indian women also won gold defeating Sri Lanka in the final a few days ago.
A team studded with batting stars from the world’s richest cricket league, the IPL or Indian Premier League, were never given a chance to show off their wares much to the disappointment of a faithful band of Indian fans who had travelled all the way to China to back their heroes.
“It is a real shame the match had to end this way. But we are happy that we won the gold medal. Two golds in cricket at the Asian Games is just fabulous,” said Delhi-born Ravi, one of five friends who had come to Hangzhou to watch their stars in action.
Meanwhile, a boundary off the last ball from Rakibul Hasan gave Bangladesh the bronze medal after they defeated Pakistan by six wickets in a match reduced to five overs per side.
Bangladesh put Pakistan into bat and they were on 48 for one off five overs when rain stopped play. After a lengthy break, match officials decided to make the contest a five-over game and Pakistan’s total was revised to 64 on the international Duckworth-Lewis-Stern method used to calculate targets in a rain-affected game.
Yasir Ali, who hit a quick-fire 34 off 16 balls, and Afif Hossain, 20 off 11, took Bangladesh close, but they still needed four runs off the last delivery with new batsman Rakibul Hasan walking in. He stayed calm to hit the final ball to the boundary and give his team the bronze medal.
“I just tried to play a good shot and I scored a four,” said an elated Rakibul. “It’s something to take away from this tournament and we are happy.”
