India have named a strong squad for the men’s cricket competition at the 2026 Asian Games in Japan, with premier fast bowler Jasprit Bumrah returning to the T20 setup for the continental event. While Bumrah has been rested for the upcoming T20I tours of Ireland and England as part of India’s workload management plans, the selectors have included him in the 15-member squad for the Asian Games, underlining the importance attached to defending the gold medal.
Bumrah’s inclusion comes at the expense of Mohammed Siraj, who will instead be part of India’s T20I squads for the Ireland and England tours. All-rounder Washington Sundar, who was selected as the 16th member for those T20I assignments, has also missed out on a place in the Asian Games squad.
India’s new T20I captain Shreyas Iyer will lead the side in Japan, with Tilak Varma appointed vice-captain. One of the biggest attractions in the squad is 15-year-old batting sensation Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, who continues his rapid rise through the ranks after earning national recognition with his performances in IPL 2026. The youngster is expected to compete for a top-order role alongside established T20 stars Sanju Samson, Abhishek Sharma and Ishan Kishan.
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The 2026 Asian Games will be held in Aichi Prefecture, Japan, from September 19 to October 4. The men’s cricket tournament, played in the T20 format, begins on September 24 and concludes with the gold-medal match on October 3. The event overlaps with India’s ODI series against the West Indies, scheduled between September 27 and October 3, followed by a five-match T20I series starting on October 6.
Here’s a look at #TeamIndia‘s squad for the Asian Games 2026 in Japan this September 👏#AsianGames pic.twitter.com/euMfmhWEcN
— BCCI (@BCCI) June 6, 2026
A total of ten teams will compete in the men’s competition, including India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Afghanistan, Japan, Nepal, Malaysia, Hong Kong and Oman. The tournament structure includes preliminary qualification matches from September 24 to 26, quarter-finals on September 28 and 29, semi-finals on October 1, and the bronze and gold-medal matches on October 3.
India enter the tournament as defending champions after winning gold at the 2023 Asian Games in Hangzhou. The final against Afghanistan was washed out, with India awarded the title as the higher-seeded team. The women’s team will also look to defend its crown after securing gold in 2023 by defeating Sri Lanka in the final.
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India men’s T20I squad for Asian Games: Shreyas Iyer (capt), Sanju Samson (wk), Abhishek Sharma, Ishan Kishan (wk), Shivam Dube, Tilak Varma (vc), Axar Patel, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Varun Chakravarthy, Ravi Bishnoi, Harshit Rana, Arshdeep Singh, Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, Jasprit Bumrah.
