SENSEX
NIFTY
GOLD
USD/INR

Weather

image 36    C

Cricket News

CNMSports

Cricket / CNMSports

details

Indias Remarkable Asian Games Cricket Story: Two Misses, Two Gold Medals

Crickets entry into the Asian Games was supposed to be a landmark moment for the sport in the continent. The story began in May 2009, when the Olympic Council of Asia (OCA) approved cricket as an Asian Games sport. It was to make its debut at Guangzhou in 2010, with Twenty20 chosen as the format for both men and women. The OCA was particularly keen on the participation of India and Pakistan, believing their presence would give the new competition credibility and help promote cricket in countries where it was still relatively unfamiliar. But India did not turn up. Why India missed Guangzhou 2010 The BCCI said its mens and womens teams were unavailable because India were scheduled to host New Zealand for a full Test and ODI series in November 2010 and decided it could not spare its leading players for the Asian Games. There was an attempt to find a compromise by sending a second-string Indian team, but amid differences between the BCCI and the Indian Olympic Association over the composition of the squad, this also did not happen. Indias absence was a major disappointment, as cricket had been introduced into the Games with the expectation that the continents leading cricket nations would support the event. The disappointment was particularly sharp in Guangzhou, where a 6,532-seat international cricket stadium was constructed specifically for the Games to showcase a sport largely unfamiliar to the Chinese public. The absence of Indian cricketers deprived the event of some of its biggest potential stars. Indias absence also became part of a wider debate about crickets place in multi-sport events. The OCA wanted the Asian Games to help spread the game beyond its traditional strongholds. India says no again in 2014 Four years later, the same story was repeated at the Incheon Asian Games. This time, the principal problem was the Champions League Twenty20, held in India from September 13 to October 4, overlapping almost exactly with the Asian Games from September 19 to October 4. Four IPL teams were involved in the Champions League, meaning many of Indias leading players were committed to their franchises. The BCCI argued that the cricket calendar was already too congested to accommodate another assignment. But the decision was particularly controversial because India did not send its womens team either, although they had no comparable international fixture clash. India was again the only Asian Test-playing nation not to participate in either the mens or womens competition. The decision drew an unusually strong response from OCA president Sheikh Ahmad Al-Fahad Al-Sabah. He accused India of putting commercial interests ahead of the wider development of cricket and said its repeated absence was damaging the sports expansion. Indias absence also stood out because other cricket boards were willing to participate despite their own scheduling problems. Sri Lanka and Bangladesh entered both competitions, while Pakistan sent its womens team. The change came in Hangzhou The breakthrough finally came at the 2022 Asian Games, held in Hangzhou in 2023 after the Games were postponed because of the COVID-19 pandemic. For the first time, India entered both the mens and womens cricket competitions. The senior Indian mens team was simultaneously involved in the ODI World Cup being played at home. India therefore sent a second-string but highly talented squad to Hangzhou, led by Ruturaj Gaikwad. The womens team entered the competition with a strong squad led by Harmanpreet Kaur. Indias long-awaited debut could hardly have been more successful. The women claimed Indias first cricket gold at the Asian Games, and the men followed with gold of their own. After refusing to participate in the first two editions, India walked away from its first Asian Games cricket appearance with two gold medals. Also Read: Special Cricket Stories The transformation was striking. In 2010 and 2014, it prompted accusations that the country was putting business ahead of the sports wider interests. By 2023, India became its dominant cricketing force and now returns to the 2026 Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games not as a reluctant participant, but as the defending champion in both mens and womens cricket.

16 Sep 2026 9:54 am