Mumbai: The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) on Saturday announced the 15-strong squad for the Asian Games 2026, which includes fast bowler Jasprit Bumrah.
Bumrah, who along with fellow veteran campaigner Hardik Pandya, was withdrawn from the Indian squad for the T20I series against Ireland and England, was picked for the Games in Japan.
The 32-year-old pacer will replace Mohammad Siraj, who is part of the T20I squads for Ireland and England, while Prince Yadav, the 16th player in those squads, has not been selected for the games.
Newly-appointed T20 captain Shreyas Iyer will lead India in the Asian Games cricket tournament as it will be played in the shorter format, while 15-year-old batsman Vaibhav Suriyavanshi, who earned his first national call-up for the Ireland and England series, will be included alongside Sanju Kishan, Abshan Sharshan and Abshan Sharma.
The men’s cricket tournament at the Games will be held from September 24 to October 3, featuring 10 teams from Pakistan, India, Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Malaysia, Hong Kong and Oman.
Notably, the Asian Games schedule coincides with India’s home white-ball series against the West Indies, which includes three ODIs and five T20Is, scheduled from September 27 to October 17.
India entered the tournament in Hangzhou, China in October 2023 as defending champions, winning the gold medal on merit as the higher-ranked team in a rain-abandoned final against Afghanistan.
Indian Men’s T20I Squad for Asian Games
Shreyas Iyer (Captain), Sanju Samson (VK), Abhishek Sharma, Ishan Kishan (VK), Shivam Dubey, Tilak Verma (Vice-Captain), Akshar Patel, Washington Sundar, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Varun Chakraborty, Ravi Bishnoi, Harshit Rana, Arshdeep Singh, Vaibhav Soprith Singh.