India Women Begin Asian Games Cricket Defence

The Indian women’s cricket team will begin its Asian Games 2026 campaign against hosts Japan on September 18, starting its bid to successfully defend the gold medal won at the previous edition of the continental event.

Led by Harmanpreet Kaur, India will face Japan in the quarter-final at the Kōrogi Sports Park in Nisshin as the cricket competition gets underway ahead of the official opening of the Asian Games in Aichi-Nagoya.

A victory over Japan would send India into the semi-final scheduled for September 20, where Bangladesh are positioned as their prospective opponents. Bangladesh advanced following the washout of their quarter-final against China.

India enter the Asian Games with strong recent form after winning the Asia Cup in Dubai last week. The team remained unbeaten during the tournament, defeating Pakistan, Thailand and Hong Kong in the group stage before overcoming Bangladesh in the semi-final and Sri Lanka in the final.

The Asian Games squad features several established Indian players alongside Harmanpreet, including vice-captain Smriti Mandhana, Shafali Verma, Deepti Sharma, Richa Ghosh and Renuka Thakur.

The complete Indian squad comprises Harmanpreet Kaur, Smriti Mandhana, Shafali Verma, Pratika Rawal, Deepti Sharma, Richa Ghosh, G. Kamalini, Bharti Fulmali, Sree Charani, Renuka Thakur, Kranti Gaud, Arundhati Reddy, Shreyanka Patil, Radha Yadav and Nandni Sharma.

India won its maiden women’s cricket gold medal at the Asian Games in 2023. After the quarter-final against Malaysia was washed out, India defeated Bangladesh in the semi-final before beating Sri Lanka in the final to secure the title.

If India progress through this year's competition, their likely schedule includes the semi-final on September 20, followed by the gold-medal match on September 22.

For viewers in India, the Asian Games 2026 women’s cricket matches will be streamed live on SonyLIV and televised on the Sony Sports Network.