Cricket match canceled due to rain, semifinal teams decided based on rankings... Asian Games controversy reignites

Due to the steady rain, the team that advanced to the 2026 Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games men's cricket semifinals was eliminated without a single pitch.

All four men's quarterfinal games scheduled to be held on the 28th and 29th at the cricket stadium, which was a converted baseball stadium at Gorogi Sports Park in Aichi Prefecture, Japan, were canceled due to rain.

In this tournament, which did not have a reserve date for the game, the rule that 'if canceled due to rain, the team with the highest world ranking advances to the next round' was applied to determine the teams that advanced to the semifinals.

Accordingly, in the match on the 28th, the top seeds India and Pakistan advanced to the semifinals, and in the match on the 29th, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh also advanced to the semifinals without playing against Nepal and Malaysia, respectively.

The semifinals to be held on the 1st of next month have been decided to be India-Sri Lanka and Pakistan-Bangladesh.

There was a mixed reaction of disappointment among the players from lower-ranked countries, who ended the tournament without even playing the game.

Virandip Singh, a Malaysian national team player, expressed regret through his social networking service (SNS), saying, “I was so sad that I couldn’t even go to the stadium while waiting with just a towel on.”

In addition, Akash Chopra, a former Indian national team member and cricket commentator, said, "It is unfortunate that the teams that advance are selected based only on rankings without playing games," and pointed out the need for improvement in schedule and operation.

Foreign media also shed light on this situation one after another. Cricket News, a media outlet specializing in cricket, pointed out that “drainage problems and weather variables caused by the hastily constructed use of existing baseball stadiums are damaging the image of cricket in emerging Asian markets.”

If rain prevents the finals scheduled for the 3rd of next month, a joint gold medal will be awarded.

The Indian daily newspaper 'Indian Express' published the information received from an official inquiry to the Games Organizing Committee and pointed out, "The competition schedule, which did not even prepare a preliminary date, caused this disruption."

The 2022 Hangzhou Asian Games men's cricket gold medal team was also decided due to rain.

Rain poured down during the final match between India and Afghanistan, so it could not be resumed, and India, which has a high world ranking, took the gold medal.