Asian Games cricket: India reigning champions in men’s and women’s categories - full winners list

Although very popular in the Indian sub-continent, cricket has featured in only three of the 19 Asian Games editions so far.

At the Asian Games, cricket made its debut as a medal event in 2010 and was contested again at the next edition in 2014. The matches then were not accorded international status.

However, when the sport returned to the continental showpiece at Hangzhou 2023 after being dropped from the programme at Jakarta 2018, matches were accorded international status by the ICC, the global governing body for cricket.

Both men’s and women’s cricket tournaments, played in T20 format, have featured in all three editions.

At Guangzhou 2010, Bangladesh became the first men’s cricket champions at the Asian Games while Pakistan clinched the gold medal in the women’s edition. Pakistan went on to defend their women’s title at Incheon 2014 while Sri Lanka took the men’s title.

India, making their Asian Games debut, clinched both titles at Hangzhou 2023.

Here’s a list of all medal winners in cricket at the Asian Games.

Asian Games cricket winners list

Asian Games men's cricket winners

Asian Games women's cricket winners

Cricket at Asian Games 2010

In its first appearance, at the 2010 Asian Games in Guangzhou, the People's Republic of China, cricket was played in the shortest format – Twenty20 – for both men and women.

All matches were played at the Guanggong International Cricket Stadium, which was built especially for the Asian Games.

The men’s event featured nine teams, including three Test-playing nations, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and Pakistan, who sent second-string squads.

India, however, did not field a side due to international commitments.

One of the most notable matches in the tournament was Pakistan’s game against China in the men’s event. Pakistan scored a tournament-high 183/1 and beat China by 128 runs.

Pakistan’s Khalid Latif, who ended as the highest run-scorer in the tournament, scored an unbeaten 103 laced with five sixes. It was the first century scored in Asian Games cricket.

After the group stage and knockouts, Bangladesh and Afghanistan made it to the men’s final. Led by Mohammad Ashraful, Bangladesh won the tournament and clinched the country’s first-ever gold medal at the Asian Games. Meanwhile, Pakistan defeated Sri Lanka to win the bronze.

In the eight-team women’s tournament, the Pakistan cricket team took the gold medal by beating Bangladesh while Japan won bronze.

“Obviously, not having the Indians was a big plus for us because we were the most experienced team in the competition in their absence," Pakistan women’s captain Sana Mir accepted. “A win is a win and it has made us all very confident and proud.”

Cricket at Asian Games 2014

Cricket was one of the 36 medal sports at the 2014 Asian Games in Incheon, the Republic of Korea and was once again played in the fast-growing T20 format.

Both men’s and women’s fields were expanded to 10 teams each. However, India decided to skip the tournament again.

Like the previous edition, a cricket stadium was built for the event and all cricket matches were staged at one venue, Yeonhui Cricket Ground.

In this edition, Bangladesh scored 224/9 against Kuwait to register a tournament-high team total at the Asian Games 2014. Bangladesh dismissed Kuwait for a paltry 21 and won the match by a whopping 203 runs.

This time, Sri Lanka won the gold medal in the men’s event, beating Afghanistan in the final.

Defending champions Bangladesh crashed out in the semis against Sri Lanka after rain played spoilsport and the result was decided by a coin toss. The Bangla Tigers, however, settled for bronze by defeating Hong Kong in the third-place match.

On the other hand, Pakistan successfully defended their title in the women’s tournament in a rain-marred final.

The women’s Pakistan cricket team got the better of Bangladesh in the gold medal play-off, which was decided by the Duckworth-Lewis method (a system that calculates target scores to force results in rain-affected matches). Sri Lanka took up the last spot on the podium by beating China for the bronze.

The women’s tournament also saw the first five-wicket haul recorded at the Asian Games. Xiang Ruan of China bagged 5/9 to dismiss South Korea women for 49. China won the match by eight wickets.

Cricket at Asian Games 2023

Cricket at the Asian Games 2023 was played at the Zhejiang University of Technology Pingfeng Cricket Field in Hangzhou, China.

The men’s and women’s Indian cricket teams participated in the Asian Games for the first time despite the dates of the men’s ODI Cricket World Cup in India clashing with the Asian Games.

The Board of Cricket Control in India (BCCI) said it arrived at the decision to field teams at the Asian Games to be “in line with the Government of India's directions.”

The BCCI fielded a second-string side for the men’s event. However, a full-strength Indian cricket team was sent for the women's event.

The cricket matches at the Asian Games were accorded international status by the ICC and the matches were played in the T20 International (T20I) format.

The men’s cricket tournament at the Asian Games 2023 was contested by 14 teams.

India were crowned champions by virtue of their global T20 ranking after the final against Afghanistan was called off due to rain. Afghanistan won their third silver medal on the trot while Bangladesh defeated Pakistan to win the bronze medal.

Nepal broke multiple world records in the opening match against Mongolia.

The 19-year-old Kushal Malla smashed the fastest T20I century in 34 balls to help his team register 314/3. It was the first time a team scored a 300-plus total in men’s T20Is. They also bowled out Mongolia for 41 and won the match by 273 runs - the biggest margin in T20I history.

India also bagged the gold medal in women's cricket at the Asian Games 2023. The Indian women's cricket team scored 116/7 in the final and restricted Sri Lanka to 97/8 to win by 19 runs. Bangladesh beat Pakistan to secure the bronze medal. A total of nine teams competed in the Asian Games 2023 women’s cricket tournament.