India reach Asian Games semis without a ball bowled

Rain, seeds and no result

The quarterfinal at Korogi Sports Park in Nisshin never got underway. India advanced because it held the higher pre-tournament ICC T20I ranking under Asian Games rain rules, The Sporting News reported. No ball was bowled.

A knockout match needs both sides to bat at least five overs to count. If rain blocks the start or stops the chase before five overs, the game is called a no-result and the higher seed advances. Once the chase has passed five overs, the Duckworth-Lewis-Stern method decides the winner from the par score. A tied match that cannot hold a Super Over because of rain also goes to the higher seed, and a washed-out bronze playoff sends the higher seed to the bronze medal.

India are the top seed. That means rain in the semifinal or final would also send them to gold. The 2026 regulations add one wrinkle: if the final is washed out, both finalists receive gold medals. In the 2023 Hangzhou final, India beat Afghanistan by the same route after Afghanistan reached 112 for 5 and rain never allowed India to bat.

A loaded squad in Nagoya

India arrived with a full-strength squad, unlike the second-string group that won in Hangzhou. Shreyas Iyer captains a side that includes Jasprit Bumrah, Sanju Samson, Abhishek Sharma, Ishan Kishan, Tilak Varma and Axar Patel, and Arshdeep Singh and Ravi Bishnoi provide bowling support. The players took the bullet train from Tokyo and checked into a five-star hotel in Nagoya, Daily Pioneer reported.

"It has been beautiful," Iyer told the BCCI website about the journey to Nagoya.

Afghanistan brought an inexperienced squad led by Darwish Rasooli, with six uncapped players, and had already lost to Nepal in the group stage. India had hammered Afghanistan in Delhi before the Games. India will meet Sri Lanka or Nepal in the last four. The semifinals are scheduled for October 1, with the final and bronze match on October 3.

For Indian fans, the weather may decide whether the team keeps gold without a bat being raised.