Cricket Concerns Loom for Aichi-Nagoya 2026
The cricket tournament at the Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games 2026 is still two years away, but the alarm bells are already ringing in Asian boardrooms.
What should have been a showcase moment for the sport in Japan has instead turned into a running concern for the continent’s biggest teams, who are questioning both where they will play and where they will sleep.
Big boards, big doubts
At the recent Asian Cricket Council (ACC) meeting in Bangkok, the mood from the Test-playing nations was anything but relaxed. India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and Afghanistan — “the big boys,” as one official described them — raised pointed questions over the quality and readiness of the cricket facilities earmarked for the Games.
The complaints fall into two clear buckets: venue and accommodation.
On paper, the event has scale and status. Ten men’s teams and eight women’s sides are due to contest T20 competitions, with medals on the line and full-strength squads expected. In reality, the logistics around those squads are starting to look messy.
Accommodation puzzle no one has solved
The options put before the teams have not gone down well.
Boards have been told they can either base themselves in a city and commute to the ground by bullet train, stay on a ship anchored nearby, or live in marquee tents. For sides packed with global stars, none of those choices screams elite, high-performance environment.
Senior officials across the continent are unimpressed. Other sports bodies, they point out, locked in hotel blocks and athlete housing long ago. The ACC, under president Mohsin Naqvi, did not move as quickly, and that delay has left top cricket nations feeling boxed into unappealing solutions.
There is also a growing sense that time has slipped away. Even if better options exist, securing them now, with major delegations and support staff involved, looks increasingly difficult.
A makeshift ground under the microscope
The venue itself offers no comfort.
The cricket ground in Nisshin City is a makeshift facility, more in line with what you might see in an Associate nation than at a multi-sport Games. Proper dressing rooms are not yet in place. The infrastructure still resembles a work in progress.
ICC CEO Sanjog Gupta tried to strike a careful tone in a recent social media post, sharing a video of a lush, green outfield and describing the venue as “almost ready” for its unveiling at the 20th Asian Games Aichi-Nagoya 2026. He acknowledged that “there is still some work to be done” before it can host 10 men’s and 8 women’s teams, match officials and fans, adding that the ACC and ICC teams are “on the job.”
The official Asian Games description paints a more polished picture, calling it a sports park in Nisshin City where a cricket ground has been developed specifically for the Games. It is only the second facility in Japan with a natural grass pitch that meets international competition standards. Japan has already staged an ICC pathway tournament there this May, a useful dress rehearsal but hardly a full stress test for a multi-team, medal-event schedule.
Late inspections, rising anxiety
Inside the ACC, there is now talk of dispatching an inspection team to Japan to run the rule over both the ground and the broader arrangements. One member told Cricbuzz that such a visit is planned, but admitted there is a feeling it may come too late to drive meaningful change.
In India, the issue has already reached the upper levels of both the BCCI and the Indian Olympic Association (IOA). Officials from the two bodies have discussed the situation, and a member of the BCCI operations team was earmarked to travel to Japan to assess the set-up on the ground.
As of early this week, though, there was no confirmation that the trip had actually happened. The official had not yet flown out, leaving one of the key stakeholders still working off second-hand information.
Cricbuzz approached Japan Cricket Association (JCA) CEO Alex Miyaji for comment, but there was no immediate response.
Full-strength India locked in
Amid the uncertainty, one decision is clear: the BCCI is sending full-strength India squads.
The men’s team will be led by regular captain Shreyas Iyer, the women’s side by Harmanpreet Kaur. Despite speculation in some quarters that India might downgrade their participation and send B teams, officials maintain that no such move has been made. At this stage, they say, it is simply too late to rework squads, barring injuries.
There has already been one enforced change. Jemimah Rodrigues has been ruled out and replaced by Pratika Rawal, a reminder that player availability can still shift but selection policy will not.
Tight schedule, loose ends
The cricket competition itself is tightly packed. The T20 events start on September 17, two days before the official opening ceremony on September 19, and run through to October 3. The women’s final is slated for September 22, the men’s gold medal match for October 3.
Amid that schedule, one idea has surfaced: an Indian men’s friendly against hosts Japan on September 22. It would be a symbolic fixture, a chance to showcase the sport in front of home fans. For now, though, it remains just that — an idea. Neither BCCI nor JCA officials have confirmed that the game will take place.
So the clock keeps ticking. The ground in Nisshin continues its race to be “almost ready” and then truly ready. The biggest teams in Asia wait for clarity on where they will stay, how they will prepare, and whether the stage will match the stature of the players walking onto it.
Two years out from Aichi-Nagoya 2026, the question is no longer whether cricket belongs at the Asian Games. It is whether the organisers, and the regional bodies, can deliver a platform worthy of the sport they are so eager to showcase.
