The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has announced that the men’s and women’s Indian cricket teams will compete in the Asian Games 2022, which will be hosted in Hangzhou, China.
The 19th Asian Games will take place this year from September 23 to October 8. For the first time, India will be sending teams to the Asian Games cricket competition.
The ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup 2023 in India is set to commence on October 5, and thus BCCI is anticipated to send a second-string squad for the Asian event. For the women’s event, nevertheless, a full-strength Indian cricket team will be present.
Due to international obligations, India initially decided not to field teams for the Asian Games. This time around the International Cricket Council (ICC) has granted international status to the games at the forthcoming Asian Games. Both men’s and women’s cricket will be conducted in the T20I format.
“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 (at Asian Games) in line with the Government of India’s directions,” the BCCI said in a statement.
The game of cricket was contested at the Asian Games twice, in 2010 and 2014. But later the sport was omitted from the 2018 Asian Games in Jakarta. Bangladesh claimed the gold medal in men’s cricket in the 2010 Guangzhou event, while Sri Lanka claimed the title in 2014. In both editions of women’s cricket, Pakistan clinched the gold medal.