Cricket not to be part of Asian Games 2026 due to logistical reasons – Reports

Cricket was part of the Hangzhou Asian Games in 2023.

Cricket might miss being part of the Asian Games 2026 event. The 2026 Asian Games are set to be played in Nagoya Japan and cricket might not be on the list of sports being played in the event due to logistical reasons.

Cricket returned to the Asian Games in 2023 in Hangzhou, China, and saw India winning gold medals in both men’s and women’s events.

Cricket, by some measures the world’s second most popular sport but primarily limited to British Commonwealth countries, had generally avoided multi-sport competitions.

However, sentiment among the sport’s power brokers has shifted over the last decade, with a greater emphasis on extending cricket beyond its traditional area. Cricket was played at the Asian Games in 2010 and 2014, and again last year, 15 men’s and nine women’s teams competed.

India, the sport’s financial powerhouse, participated after missing ’10 and ’14. They won double gold in Hangzhou, exhibiting their extraordinary depth with a second-string men’s squad and demonstrating India’s renewed commitment to multi-sport tournaments.

Nagoya, Japan unable to host cricket event in 2026 Asian Games due to logistical issues

Cricket, which returned to the Asian Games, the second largest multi-sports event, in Hangzhou, China last year, is set to be excluded in Nagoya, a blow to the sport’s development in the baseball-crazed country.

The Olympic Council of Asia and the Japanese organizing committee have actively pushed for cricket inclusion, raising hopes.

“The organizing committee is very keen on including that (cricket) in the 2026 Asian Games,” OCA deputy director general Vinod Kumar Tiwari told Reuters recently.

However, it has been revealed that cricket faces a significant battle for inclusion, with logistical hurdles expected to be difficult to overcome. According to Reuters, a baseball stadium in Nagoya has been recommended for repurposing, but some close to the situation are concerned that cricket will be excluded.

Conversations continue between the Asian Cricket Council, which powerful Indian chief Jay Shah still leads until he takes over International Cricket Council (ICC) in December, and the necessary authorities. The final decision is due next year.

The next Asian Games, with more sports and athlete quotas than the Olympics, will be held fewer than two years before the Los Angeles Games, where cricket will end a 128-year Olympic absence.

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