India men's cricket team to participate in Asian Games

The Indian men's cricket team is set to debut in the Asian Games after the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) decided to field them in the tournament, media reports stated.

India's women's side will now be joined by their male counterparts in the mega sporting event where cricket competitions will follow the Twenty20 format.

However, a scheduling dispute has emerged as the dates of the Asian Games clash with those of the ICC Cricket World Cup to be played in India this year.

Therefore, the men's team will comprise its B squad, and no star cricketer will be present in any team at the Asian Games. 

The Asian Games are scheduled in Hangzhou, China, from September 23 to October 8, while the World Cup is slated to occur from October 5 to November 19.

Additionally, teams will have to participate in warm-up matches. The BCCI will submit its player list to the Indian Olympic Association by June 30.

"We have entries in all sports except one — cricket (team) isn't going. They said they are preoccupied. We sent around 3-4 emails to them but when we had to send entries to the organisers, they said they won't go," India's chef de mission for the Asian Games, Bhupender Bajwa, told an Indian media outlet earlier.

Meanwhile, cricket — included in the tournament in 2010 and 2014 but not in 2018 — has now been included in the Hangzhou Games. The sports event was to be held in China last year but was postponed due to COVID-19 restrictions.

This is not the first time that the BCCI has fielded two of its national teams. Earlier in 1998, the board sent one team to participate in the Kuala Lumpur Commonwealth Games and another to compete against Pakistan for the Sahara Cup.

Similarly, cricketer Shikhar Dhawan led a second-string team in Sri Lanka in 2021, while Virat Kohli captained a team in England. 

Despite repeated requests, the board had previously refused participation in the Asian Games, stating it was preoccupied.