The Indian men's cricket team are set to begin their campaign at the Asian Games 2026 on September 28 (Monday), taking on Afghanistan in the quarter-finalat the Korogi Sports Park in Nisshin, Japan. India will look to emulate their women's counterpart and seal a gold medal for the country as they did in the last Asian Games. However, the rain gods might play spoiler in India's crucial game on Monday. The question now remains as to what will happen if the match is completely washed out due to rain.
If the match is washed out due to rain, then it will be India who will qualify for the semi-final. This is because India are the higher-ranked T20I team, and according to the rules, the team with the higher ranking wins. To put things into context, India are the No. 1 side in the ICC T20I rankings, while Afghanistan are ranked 10th.
In the final of the Asian Games 2022, the match between India and Afghanistan was washed out, and India were handed the gold medal because they were the higher-ranked team.
India vs Afghanistan weather forecast
According to Accuweather.com, the weather in Nisshin is expected to remain cloudy throughout the day, with long spells of rainfall.
During the time of the match, there is a 35-60% chance of rainfall. However, there is a thunderstorm alert throughout the day.
So there are high chances that the match might either get washed out or truncated due to the rain.ALSO READ: Shreyas Iyer, ahead of the Afghanistan game, admits Asian Games gold pressure but says, ‘it’s good pressure’
'Weather is secondary': Shreyas Iyer
{{/usCountry}}So there are high chances that the match might either get washed out or truncated due to the rain.ALSO READ: Shreyas Iyer, ahead of the Afghanistan game, admits Asian Games gold pressure but says, ‘it’s good pressure’
'Weather is secondary': Shreyas Iyer
{{/usCountry}}Speaking at the press conference before the match against Afghanistan, India captain Shreyas Iyer said that they have to be mentally prepared irrespective of whatever the situation is. The primary thing they are focussing on is to play the match, and what the weather will be is secondary. He also said that he is not taking Afghanistan lightly.
“We have decided that we are a bunch of professionals. And such hurdles will keep coming. And mentally, we have to be prepared, irrespective of whatever the situation is going to be. So, we got a decent warm-up and a little practice of knocking. And tomorrow, we will try to adapt as soon as possible to the wicket. We will see how the weather is. But that is secondary. The primary importance is to come and play the match," Iyer said.
“We can’t take any team in the Asian Games lightly. Not just Afghanistan; any team in the Asian Games, like Japan, gave us very good competition. Because the wicket here cannot be set to a particular standard. But as I said earlier, it is very important to adapt. It will be challenging and difficult for every team. So, whichever team plays well [they will win], we will definitely go into the match with that mindset," the India captain added.