The India vs Afghanistan Asian Games quarter-final never started. Rain at Kōrogi Sports Park in Nisshin, Japan, forced the match to be abandoned on Monday, September 28 without a toss, and India went through to the semi-finals as the higher seeded team. A few hours earlier the same thing happened to Pakistan and Hong Kong. Two of the biggest names in cricket are now in the last four of the men’s T20 tournament at the Aichi Nagoya Games, and neither has bowled a ball in the knockouts.
For Afghanistan it is a painful replay. Three years ago in Hangzhou, their gold medal match against India was also ended by rain, and India took gold on seeding. This time the weather knocked them out before they could even walk out.
Why India and Pakistan went through without playing
The playing conditions for the Asian Games cricket event are simple on this point. If a knockout match produces no result, the higher ranked team progresses. Seeding was set from the ICC men’s T20I team rankings, and the four highest seeds skipped the group stage and went straight into the quarter-finals. Afghanistan came through the preliminary stage and drew India, while Hong Kong drew Pakistan.
There is no bowl-out and no Super Over when the whole day is lost. Organisers have faced heavy criticism from fans over the washouts, with many blaming the ground’s readiness for cricket, as Yardbarker and Yahoo Sports reported.
Asian Games cricket knockout schedule
Every remaining men’s match is at Kōrogi Sports Park in Nisshin. Times below are converted from Japan Standard Time.
| Match | Date (Japan) | JST | India (IST) | Pakistan (PKT) | US (ET) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| QF3: Nepal vs Sri Lanka | Tue Sep 29 | 9am | 5:30am | 5am | 8pm Mon Sep 28 |
| QF4: Bangladesh vs Malaysia | Tue Sep 29 | 2pm | 10:30am | 10am | 1am Tue Sep 29 |
| SF1: Pakistan vs QF4 winner | Thu Oct 1 | 9am | 5:30am | 5am | 8pm Wed Sep 30 |
| SF2: India vs QF3 winner | Thu Oct 1 | 2pm | 10:30am | 10am | 1am Thu Oct 1 |
| Bronze medal match | Sat Oct 3 | 9am | 5:30am | 5am | 8pm Fri Oct 2 |
| Gold medal match | Sat Oct 3 | 2pm | 10:30am | 10am | 1am Sat Oct 3 |
India and Pakistan sit in opposite halves of the bracket. If both win their semi-finals, they meet for gold on Saturday, October 3.
What happens if the rain keeps falling
This is where the seeding rule matters most. The National reported that Tuesday’s forecast looked just as grim. Sri Lanka and Bangladesh were both top four seeds, so if their quarter-finals against Nepal and Malaysia are also washed out, the same rule would send them through. The rule does not stop at the quarter-finals either. It decided the 2023 gold medal, so a washed out final this weekend would hand gold to the higher ranked team again.
The Hangzhou precedent
At the Hangzhou Games, held in 2023, Afghanistan were 112 for 5 after 18.2 overs in the final against India when rain stopped play. No more cricket was possible, and India were awarded gold because of their higher seeding. Afghanistan took silver. The ruling drew plenty of criticism at the time, as Al Jazeera and Gulf News reported, and Monday’s washout means Afghanistan leave Japan without a result against India for the second Asian Games in a row.
For now, India and Pakistan can only wait and watch the sky. Their semi-final opponents will be decided on Tuesday, weather permitting.
Sources
- ESPNcricinfo: Washout against Afghanistan sends India into semi-finals
- Onmanorama: India advance to final four as quarter-final is abandoned
- The National: India and Pakistan through after washout
- Yardbarker: How India and Pakistan progressed after rain washouts
- Yahoo Sports: Asian Games organisers criticised after washouts
- Al Jazeera: India gifted Asian Games cricket gold by ranking rule (2023)
