Cricket: India wins gold at Asian Games beating Pakistan

The Indian national cricket team won the gold medal at the Asian Games, beating their historic opponents Pakistan in the final at the Korogi Sports Park in Nisshin, Japan, a small baseball stadium transformed for the occasion into the venue for the tournament of the most followed discipline in the world after football.

Due to long-standing political tensions, India and Pakistan compete in cricket only in international tournaments and on neutral grounds. Tension also dominated this final, with the two captains refusing the usual handshake before the start of the match, won by 19 runs by the Indians, who at the end paraded euphoricly waving the national flag in front of the small, but noisy, crowd of the 2,500-seat venue.