India’s Remarkable Asian Games Cricket Story: Two Misses, Two Gold Medals

India’s Asian Games cricket journey went from missing the 2010 and 2014 editions to winning gold in both men’s and women’s events at Hangzhou 2023.

India’s Asian Games Cricket Story (India’s Remarkable Asian Games Cricket Story: Two Misses, Two Gold Medals)

Cricket’s entry into the Asian Games was supposed to be a landmark moment for the sport in the continent.

The story began in May 2009, when the Olympic Council of Asia (OCA) approved cricket as an Asian Games sport. It was to make its debut at Guangzhou in 2010, with Twenty20 chosen as the format for both men and women.

The OCA was particularly keen on the participation of India and Pakistan, believing their presence would give the new competition credibility and help promote cricket in countries where it was still relatively unfamiliar. But India did not turn up.

Why India missed Guangzhou 2010

The BCCI said its men’s and women’s teams were unavailable because India were scheduled to host New Zealand for a full Test and ODI series in November 2010 and decided it could not spare its leading players for the Asian Games.

There was an attempt to find a compromise by sending a second-string Indian team, but amid differences between the BCCI and the Indian Olympic Association over the composition of the squad, this also did not happen.

India’s absence was a major disappointment, as cricket had been introduced into the Games with the expectation that the continent’s leading cricket nations would support the event. The disappointment was particularly sharp in Guangzhou, where a 6,532-seat international cricket stadium was constructed specifically for the Games to showcase a sport largely unfamiliar to the Chinese public. The absence of Indian cricketers deprived the event of some of its biggest potential stars.

India’s absence also became part of a wider debate about cricket’s place in multi-sport events. The OCA wanted the Asian Games to help spread the game beyond its traditional strongholds.

India says no again in 2014

Four years later, the same story was repeated at the Incheon Asian Games. This time, the principal problem was the Champions League Twenty20, held in India from September 13 to October 4, overlapping almost exactly with the Asian Games from September 19 to October 4.

Four IPL teams were involved in the Champions League, meaning many of India’s leading players were committed to their franchises. The BCCI argued that the cricket calendar was already too congested to accommodate another assignment.

But the decision was particularly controversial because India did not send its women’s team either, although they had no comparable international fixture clash. India was again the only Asian Test-playing nation not to participate in either the men’s or women’s competition.

The decision drew an unusually strong response from OCA president Sheikh Ahmad Al-Fahad Al-Sabah. He accused India of putting commercial interests ahead of the wider development of cricket and said its repeated absence was damaging the sport’s expansion.

India’s absence also stood out because other cricket boards were willing to participate despite their own scheduling problems. Sri Lanka and Bangladesh entered both competitions, while Pakistan sent its women’s team.

The change came in Hangzhou

The breakthrough finally came at the 2022 Asian Games, held in Hangzhou in 2023 after the Games were postponed because of the COVID-19 pandemic. For the first time, India entered both the men’s and women’s cricket competitions.

The senior Indian men’s team was simultaneously involved in the ODI World Cup being played at home. India therefore sent a second-string but highly talented squad to Hangzhou, led by Ruturaj Gaikwad. The women’s team entered the competition with a strong squad led by Harmanpreet Kaur.

India’s long-awaited debut could hardly have been more successful. The women claimed India’s first cricket gold at the Asian Games, and the men followed with gold of their own. After refusing to participate in the first two editions, India walked away from its first Asian Games cricket appearance with two gold medals.

The transformation was striking. In 2010 and 2014, it prompted accusations that the country was putting business ahead of the sport’s wider interests. By 2023, India became its dominant cricketing force and now returns to the 2026 Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games not as a reluctant participant, but as the defending champion in both men’s and women’s cricket.