Asian Games 2023: India men's and women's cricket teams get direct entries to quarterfiinals

India men's and women's cricket teams have been assured of direct quarter-final berths at the Asian Games 2023, which will be held in Hangzhou, China. The matches in the Asian Games have been awarded T20I status and the quarter-final berths have been awarded to the top 4 teams in the region - India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh -- in ICC T20I rankings as of June 1.

Women's cricket will be played from September 19 to 26 while men's cricket will be played from September 28 to October 7. A total of 18 teams will compete in men's cricket event and 14 teams compete in the women's cricket event at the Asian Games.

The Zhejiang University of Technology Cricket Field, Hangzhou will host the matches in the Asian Games.

India women will be in action in the



quarter-final on September 22. If they qualify for the semi-final, the match will be held on September 25. The gold medal match and the bronze medal match will be held on September 26.

Harmanpreet Kaur, who was picked as the captain of the full-strength women's team, can play in the Asian Games only if India reaches the final as she was handed a 2-match ban over her outburst at umpires during an ODI in Bangladesh earlier in July.

Ruturaj Gaikwad will lead a second-string India men's team at the Asian Games as the first-choice players will be in action at the ODI World Cup, starting October 5.

If the Indian men's cricket team qualifies for the final, it will have to play on three successive days - October 5 (quarter-final), October 6 (semi-final), and October 7 (final).