Part of the tournament’s men’s commentary panel, Sanjay Manjrekar has supported both Indian teams to maintain their dominance on the continental scene.
The former Indian batter highlighted the teams’ combination of seasoned players and up-and-coming talent when expressing his faith in the teams put together for the competition.
Men’s and women’s T20 cricket contests will be held in Korogi Athletic Park in Aichi, Japan, from September 17 to October 3, as part of the Asian Games 2026. Following their gold medals in both categories at Hangzhou 2023, India is the reigning champion. The men’s competition starts on September 24 and the gold medal match is set for October 3. The women’s tournament takes place from September 17 to September 22.
The men’s team, led by Shreyas Iyer, consists of both up-and-coming players like Abhishek Sharma and Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, who will be competing in their first Asian Games, and well-known professionals like Jasprit Bumrah.
A solid core of players, including Smriti Mandhana, Shafali Verma, Deepti Sharma, and Richa Ghosh, make up the women’s team led by Harmanpreet Kaur.
On September 18, the Indian women’s team will play the hosts, Japan, in the quarterfinals to start their championship defense. Both teams are tasked with upholding India’s supremacy in Asian cricket while vying for gold medals that would add to the nation’s total at the Games.
With expectations inherently high as the reigning champions, the competition offers Indian cricket a chance to demonstrate the depth of talent developed across both the men’s and women’s games. The fact that India’s men’s and women’s teams are the reigning Asia Cup champions is noteworthy.
