Pakistan and India will face each other in the Asian Games 2026 final, which will be their first clash of the tournament. This will also be the first time both teams will play each other in Asian Games history.
Pakistan and India to face each other for the first time in Asian Games
In this edition, the two began their campaign from the quarter-finals, alongside Bangladesh and Sri Lanka. Both quarter-finals were washed out, and Pakistan, Bangladesh, India and Sri Lanka progressed to the semi-finals. Pakistan won a rain-truncated semi-final against Bangladesh by six wickets. Batting first, Bangladesh posted a 112-run target as Pakistan’s spinners choked the run flow. Sufiyan Moqim grabbed three wickets while Arafat Minhas and Saim Ayub managed as many between them.
The target was chased with some fumbles from Pakistan’s end, as the top three batters departed for just 38 runs. Abdul Samad was the man of the hour for Pakistan, scoring 30 off 15 balls to decrease the deficit. At one point, he hit 23 runs in an over.
India, meanwhile, had more of a convincing win over Sri Lanka. India set them a target of 170, thanks to a commanding 80-run innings by Ishan Kishan. Besides Kishan, Hreyas Iyer and Vaibhav Suryavanshi, none of the other batters got into double figures.
India and Pakistan set to fight for Gold
Such is the class of Jasprit Bumrah that, on a surface that clearly inclined towards spinners in a tournament where pacers haven’t had much to do, he grabbed two wickets for just seven runs. He took both his wickets in the first over, further denting Sri Lanka’s chances of survival. It was onto the Indian spinners now, who shared five wickets between them.
That, paired with Sri Lanka’s sloppy running between the wickets, which cost them three players, got them to only a 45-run total. Sri Lanka lost the game by a ginormous 124 runs.
India and Pakistan will now play each other on October 3, while Sri Lanka and Bangladesh will fight it out for the bronze medal earlier the same day.
ALSO READ:
Asian Games 2026: Pakistan get past Bangladesh to book a place in the gold medal game- IPL