Asian Games 2026: Men's Cricket Schedule Adjusted for India

The men’s cricket schedule at the Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games 2026 has been nudged forward, with knockout afternoon matches starting 30 minutes earlier in a move driven by fading light and long games – and one that quietly hands India a prime slot.

Organisers have shifted the men’s afternoon fixtures from 2 pm to 1.30 pm local time. It is a small change on paper, but a significant one for teams planning routines, warm-ups and broadcast windows. The women’s schedule, by contrast, stays untouched.

India’s men, seeded directly into the quarter-finals, will feel the change immediately. Their first outing at the Games is now locked in for a 1.30 pm start in Japan, which translates to 10 am IST with Japan 3 hours and 30 minutes ahead. The morning games are left as they were: 9 am local, or 5.30 am IST.

That pattern runs right through the business end of the men’s competition. The second semi-final and the gold-medal match are both set for 1.30 pm Japan Time, keeping India in that marquee afternoon window if they progress as expected. The first semi-final, the bronze-medal play-off and the first quarter-final – involving Pakistan – will all begin at 9 am.

Specific Adjustments

The adjustment is specific and targeted. It applies to:

• the second quarter-final on September 28, which India will contest,
• the second semi-final on October 1, where India are tipped to feature,
• and the gold-medal clash on October 3.

Every other men’s fixture in the preliminary phase – involving Afghanistan, Japan, Nepal, Hong Kong (China), Malaysia and Oman – holds its original timing. So do all women’s matches, which begin straight from the quarter-final stage and continue to run at 9 am and 2 pm local time.

The reasoning is straightforward. In Japan, daylight disappears early, and the cricket venue does not have floodlights. With men’s T20s expected to stretch longer, officials opted to pull the start times forward rather than gamble with bad light in the closing overs.

The communication, though, has not fully caught up with the decision. Indian Olympic Association (IOA) officials say they have not been formally informed of the revised timings, even as the updated schedule sits live on the official website.

Outside the Games framework, India’s T20I against Japan at Sano International Stadium on September 22 keeps its own slot. That match, not part of the Asian Games schedule, will begin at 1 pm JST, 9.30 am IST – another afternoon in Japan, and another early start back home.