India vs Pakistan Asian Games 2026 cricket final: teams, date and time
India and Pakistan will meet in the Asian Games 2026 men's cricket gold-medal final on Saturday, 3 October at Korogi Athletic Park in Nisshin, Aichi. The published Olympics.com cricket schedule lists a 10:00 AM IST start, equivalent to 1:30 PM Japan Standard Time. The event results page confirms the pairing after both sides won their semi-finals on 1 October. This is a pre-match report; no winner, toss, playing XI or final score exists yet at the time of this check.
Men's gold-medal match — checked 1 October 2026
| Fixture | Pakistan vs India, Asian Games 2026 men's cricket gold final |
|---|---|
| Scheduled date | Saturday, 3 October 2026 |
| Scheduled start | 10:00 AM IST / 1:30 PM JST — verify again on match day |
| Venue | Korogi Athletic Park, Nisshin, Aichi, Japan |
| Bronze fixture | Bangladesh vs Sri Lanka, also on 3 October |
| Status | Upcoming; final XIs, toss, conditions and medal winner not confirmed |
One Olympics.com semi-final report uses the word “Friday” in a later paragraph, but the dated cricket schedule and tournament results listing both identify Saturday 3 October. We use the corroborated date. The schedule labels its times in IST; the Japan time above is a direct time-zone conversion, not a separately confirmed kickoff. A day-of change must be checked against the organiser's match listing.
How India and Pakistan reached the gold match
India defeated Sri Lanka by 124 runs in the second semi-final. India posted 169/7, led by Ishan Kishan's 80 not out off 46 balls and Vaibhav Sooryavanshi's 38 off 21. Sri Lanka were dismissed for 45 in 9.5 overs. The India–Sri Lanka semi-final report gives the innings and bowling detail with links to the completed scorecard. This final preview uses those confirmed numbers only to explain India's form; it is not a prediction of Saturday's score.
Pakistan's route was also settled on the field. After a wet outfield shortened the first semi-final to 13 overs per side, Bangladesh made 111/7; Pakistan reached 112/4 in 11.3 overs to win by six wickets. The ESPNcricinfo scorecard records Sufyan Moqim's 3/26 and the unbeaten chase-ending contributions of Abdul Samad (30 from 15) and Hasan Nawaz (27 from 22). The shortened semi-final does not establish a shortened format for the upcoming gold final.
Before those played matches, rain caused India–Afghanistan and Pakistan–Hong Kong China quarter-finals to be abandoned. Both teams progressed by higher seeding under the competition rule, as the event results explain. That did not create on-field quarter-final wins; their semi-final victories subsequently earned the final pairing. Our India washout and seeding explainer covers that distinction rather than counting invented wickets or margins.
Which players and developments matter before the final?
Two completed semi-final scorecards give useful, narrow context. Kishan kept India's innings intact after early wickets and finished unbeaten on 80; Jasprit Bumrah returned 2/7, Axar Patel 2/8, and Abhishek Sharma 2/2 when India bowled Sri Lanka out. Pakistan's Moqim took three wickets against Bangladesh before Samad and Nawaz completed a six-wicket chase. These are past-match figures, not confirmed selection or projected performances for Saturday.
The ICC's event primer describes the men's cricket contest as T20 and identifies the Aichi venue. Team squads and the semi-final playing XIs are not Saturday's official teams: injuries, tactical selection, availability or weather changes need a fresh team sheet. An India vs Pakistan cricket final creates strong interest, but historic rivalry is not evidence of a toss decision, pitch behaviour or gold-medal outcome. We do not present a prediction as a result.
Sri Lanka and Bangladesh are due in the men's bronze-medal match on the same day. It is separate from this gold final, as is the women's competition. Readers looking for earlier Asian Games matches can use the India cricket schedule and results hub to follow the bracket without confusing a quarter-final washout, a completed semi-final and an upcoming medal match.
What should readers verify on match day?
Before 3 October, check the organiser's latest fixture schedule for the start time, venue and any adjustment after rain. On the day, check an official or established match centre for the toss and confirmed XIs, then for observed play and the result. An advance listing is a scheduled start, not a guarantee that play begins at that instant. The pre-match article does not automatically update through the site's six-topic status feed; that monitor covers a separate list of earlier topics.
Recheck the official match centre on 3 October for any schedule change, actual toss, playing XI and final score. This is a dated editorial preview, not a live scoreboard.
The Olympics.com results page is the reference for medal pairing and completed semi-finals. The Olympics.com schedule is the reference for the published start time. A later article correction should identify which of those records changed and when; we will not silently overwrite a forecast with a claimed observed result.
India vs Pakistan final FAQs, sources and related reading
Who will play in the Asian Games 2026 men’s cricket final?
Pakistan and India qualified by winning their respective semi-finals against Bangladesh and Sri Lanka on 1 October 2026.
When is the India vs Pakistan Asian Games cricket final in IST?
The published men’s gold-medal schedule lists Saturday 3 October 2026 at 10:00 AM IST, equivalent to 1:30 PM JST. Check for any day-of change.
Where will the men’s gold-medal cricket match be played?
The published schedule lists Korogi Athletic Park, Nisshin, Aichi, Japan, as the venue for the men’s cricket medal matches.
Is the final winner or playing XI confirmed?
No. This 1 October preview predates the 3 October final; the winner, toss and playing XIs require later official match information.