Like it was in the 1998 Commonwealth Games, India Cricket Team may opt out of staying in the Games Village during Asian Games 2023. Instead, Ruturaj Gaikwad & Harmanpreet Kaur & Co are likely to stay in a five-star facility in Hangzhou. Both India Men’s Cricket Team and India Women’s Cricket Team will be playing in the Asian Games cricket after BCCI finally gave the nod after skipping the last two editions.
However, BCCI is yet to take a call on whether the teams will stay in the Asian Games village. While some may point out that it is preferential treatment, the teams will not be reaching Hangzhou until a week before the 1st game.
Also Read: Suspended for Asian Games 2023, BCCI Prez, Laxman to question Harmanpreet Kaur
For the Men’s Team, Asian Games cricket starts on October 5 against either Afghanistan or Bangladesh in the quarterfinals. India will start in the quarterfinals based on ICC rankings. As the men’s tournament consists of 18 teams, it will take whole two weeks before the quarterfinals. That is the reason India may delay departure.
“There has not been any discussion yet on whether the teams will stay at the Games village. We will know in the coming days. We are in talks with the IOA on the travelling and everything as logistics will be under the IOA. As for whether the teams will stay in a five-star facility or at the Games village, it will depend on how far is the practice venue and what sort of facilities are available for cricketers,” a senior BCCI official told InsideSport.
If India make it to the final, Ruturaj Gaikwad & Co will play on October 5 (quarterfinal), October 6 (semifinal) and October 7 (final). As for the women’s team, the schedule is yet to be out. However, it is likely that both men’s and women’s teams will travel together for Asian Games 2023.
The men’s event will start on September 28 with the final on October 7. It will clash with World Cup 2023 which starts on October 5 in Ahmedabad. This is the first time that India will be playing cricket in Asian Games. BCCI refused to send teams in the 2010 and 2014 editions.
The women’s competition will start on September 19 with the gold and bronze medal matches on September 26. However, skipper Harmanpreet Kaur will only be available for the final as she is currently under suspension for two games. Smriti Mandhana will be the captain while she serves a suspension. Pakistan have bagged both gold medals in the past two editions of the Asian Games in women’s cricket.
Asian Games 2023 Squads:
India Women’s Team: Harmanpreet Kaur (captain), Smriti Mandhana (vice-captain), Shafali Verma, Jemimah Rodrigues, Deepti Sharma, Richa Ghosh (wk), Amanjot Kaur, Devika Vaidya, Anjali Sarvani, Titas Sadhu, Rajeshwari Gayakwad, Minnu Mani, Kanika Ahuja, Uma Chetry (wk), Anusha Bareddy
Standby players: Harleen Deol, Kashvee Gautam, Sneh Rana, Saika Ishaque, Pooja Vastrakar
India Men’s Team: Ruturaj Gaikwad (captain), Yashasvi Jaiswal, Rahul Tripathi, Tilak Varma, Rinku Singh, Jitesh Sharma (wk), Washington Sundar, Shahbaz Ahmed, Ravi Bishnoi, Avesh Khan, Arshdeep Singh, Mukesh Kumar, Shivam Mavi, Shivam Dube, Prabhsimran Singh (wk)
Standby players: Yash Thakur, Sai Kishore, Venkatesh Iyer, Deepak Hooda, Sai Sudarsan
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