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India's men's cricket team advanced to the semi-finals of the 2026 Asian Games after their quarter-final match against Afghanistan was abandoned due to heavy rain on Monday.
The persistent rain prevented the match from getting underway, with the abandonment sending India through to the last four.India will now face either Sri Lanka or Nepal in the semi-finals of the men's cricket competition. The Indian men's team entered the knockout stage with a strong squad featuring several established international players. Shreyas Iyer is leading the side, with Tilak Varma serving as vice-captain. The Indian squad features several established international players, with T20 captain Iyer leading the side. The team also includes Abhishek Sharma, Sanju Samson (WK), Ishan Kishan (WK), Shivam Dube, Tilak Varma (VC), Nitish Kumar Reddy, Axar Patel, Washington Sundar, Varun Chakaravarthy, Ravi Bishnoi, Jasprit Bumrah, Arshdeep Singh, Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, Yash Thakur. Former India cricketer VVS Laxman is serving as the stand-in head coach of the team for the Asian Games campaign. India are aiming to retain the gold medal they won in the men's cricket competition at the 2023 Asian Games in Hangzhou. India were awarded the gold medal after their final against Afghanistan was washed out, with the higher-ranked side taking the title. The women's Indian cricket team has already successfully defended its Asian Games title in Aichi-Nagoya. Harmanpreet Kaur-led India defeated Sri Lanka by 147 runs in the final to claim the gold medal. The men's team will now await the outcome of the Sri Lanka-Nepal quarter-final to know their semi-final opponent as they continue their campaign for another Asian Games gold. Earlier, arch-rivals Pakistan also qualified for the Asian Games semi-finals after a washout against Hong Kong. The Men in Green qualified based on being the higher-ranked team over Hong Kong.(ANI)
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