India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka gain knockout entry

India, Bangladesh, Pakistan and Sri Lanka have secured direct entry into the knockout stages of the 2026 Asian Games cricket tournaments, with remaining spots in the competition decided through preliminary rounds for teams including Afghanistan, Hong Kong, Japan, Malaysia, Nepal and Oman. The tournaments, played in Nagoya, Japan, will be held in the Twenty20 format, running from September 17 to 22 for the women’s event and September 24 to October 1 for the men’s event. The women’s quarterfinals will feature India vs Japan, Bangladesh vs China, Sri Lanka vs Malaysia, and Pakistan vs Thailand. The men’s groups are set as Group A with Afghanistan, Japan and Nepal, and Group B with Hong Kong, Malaysia and Oman, with the top two from each group advancing to join the four direct qualifiers. India and the other direct qualifiers hold gold-medal pedigree from the 2023 Games, when India won both men’s and women’s titles. All four direct qualifiers and the remaining teams will compete for the knockout stages over the Nagoya tournament window.