Explained: Why Indian cricket team won gold medal despite Asian Games men's cricket final not getting completed due to rain

Team India won the Gold medal in the Asian Games men's cricket competition.

After India's women's team won the gold medal in the cricket tournament at the Asian Games 2023, the men's team also repeated the success. The men's team won the gold medal after the rain-hit final, which took place at Pingfeng Campus Cricket Field on Saturday. The final game between India and Afghanistan ended without a result.

The rain washed away the final match after almost the first innings was done. It started when Indian captain Ruturaj Gaikwad won the toss and elected to bowl first. The Indian bowlers picked up wickets from the start, and Afghanistan were 12/3 in 3.2 overs. But then Shahidullah Kamal added some useful partnerships in the middle. He scored 49 not out from 43 balls, with three fours and two sixes.

Team India won the Gold Medal in the Asian Games men's cricket final despite the game being called off.

Afghanistan were 52/5 in 10.5 overs when Kamal and skipper Gulbadin Naib added an unbeaten 60 runs for the sixth wicket. But the rain interrupted the game in the 18.2 overs. The Afghan team were at 112/5 when the rain came. It looked earlier that we might have some game, but the rain came heavily.

As a result, the umpires and officials decided to call off the game, and Team India were declared the winner and won the gold medal, while Afghanistan finished with the silver medal. Despite the game ending with no result, the Indian team were declared the winners of the gold medal because of the higher seeding in the competition. India have now won both gold medals in the men's and women's competitions at the Asian Games 2023.

Afghanistan men's side won the silver, while Sri Lanka finished with silver in women's competition. Earlier, in the third-place match between Pakistan and Bangladesh, the Bangladeshi team thumped to victory in a rain-hit game. They won the game by six wickets (DLS method), and with this, Bangladesh have secured bronze medals in both men's and women's cricket competitions at the Asian Games 2023.