BCCI apex council approves participation of Indian Cricket Teams in Asian Games 2023

A second string Indian Cricket Team will travel Hangzhou, China for the Asian Games 2023.

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) decided that the Indian Cricket team will participate in the upcoming Asian Games event in Hangzhou, China. The Asian Games are scheduled to begin on 23rd September and will end on 8th October. Due to the clash of dates with the upcoming ICC Cricket World Cup in India, BCCI decided to send a second-string squad to participate in Asian Games. Teams will be participating in the T20 format. Not only India, but other teams will also be fielding a second-string squad as Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Afghanistan, and Bangladesh will be playing in the Cricket World Cup starting on 5th October. 

BCCI on Asian Games Participation

BCCI’s in an official statement said, “Through effective planning, communication, and coordination, the BCCI aims to navigate those challenges successfully and contribute to the national cause by fielding a team in both men’s and women’s categories in line with the Government of India’s direction”. Earlier the board was in two minds as to whether they want to participate in the big Asian Sporting event or not. The cricket event is scheduled to begin on 28th September, around the time when 10 World Cup participants will begin their Warm-up games for the World Cup 2023 in India. 

This will be the third occasion when the BCCI will be sending two different teams for two different events. Before this, they participated in the 1998 Commonwealth Games with a second-string squad and in the Sahara Cup in UAE at the same time with the senior men’s team. In 2021, India played two teams as the senior team played a Test series in England and a second-string junior team played against Sri Lanka in Limited overs series. Shikhar Dhawan is the front-runner to lead the Indian team in the Asian Games event.