Reporting snapshot · 23 September 2026. Pakistan's men's cricket team is preparing to leave Karachi for the 2026 Asian Games, where it enters the T20 competition at the quarter-final stage on 28 September. Head coach Mike Hesson said on Wednesday that the young side is preparing "as best we can" for a possible meeting with India. The schedule, squad and Hesson's remarks rest on reports by Dawn, Geo News, Agence France-Presse and the International Cricket Council; the men's tournament runs from 24 September to 3 October.
What happened
On Wednesday, 23 September, the eve of the men’s cricket competition at the 20th Asian Games, head coach Mike Hesson said Pakistan’s team was preparing for the possibility of meeting arch-rivals India, while cautioning that neither side could look past the early rounds. Speaking on the sidelines of Pakistan’s pre-departure training camp at the National Bank Stadium in Karachi, Hesson called India “the benchmark in white-ball cricket at the moment” and said the challenge for his side was “to catch up to that”.
“If we get an opportunity to play them, we can certainly put them under pressure, like we were able to in the final of the Asia Cup,” Hesson said, in a reference to the Asia Cup 2025 final in Dubai, which India won.
The men’s T20 competition at the Games runs from 24 September to 3 October at the Nisshin Cricket Ground, part of Korogi Sports Park on the outskirts of Nagoya. Pakistan, one of four teams seeded directly into the quarter-finals, open their campaign on Monday 28 September against the runner-up of preliminary Group B, which consists of Hong Kong, Malaysia and Oman. The semi-finals are scheduled for 1 October and the bronze and gold medal matches for 3 October.
The squad heading to Japan
Pakistan’s 15-man squad for the Games, named by the Pakistan Cricket Board in June, is led by opening batter Sahibzada Farhan, with Abdul Samad as vice-captain. The selection leaves out the side’s established senior players — among them Babar Azam, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Mohammad Rizwan and white-ball captain Salman Ali Agha — in favour of a blend of youth and experience. Experienced internationals in the squad include Saim Ayub, wicketkeeper-batter Usman Khan and leg-spinner Abrar Ahmed, while several younger players, including Akif Javed, Ali Raza, Maaz Sadaqat and Saad Masood, had yet to make their T20I debuts when the squad was announced.
Fast bowler Mohammad Wasim Jnr was called up in September to replace Mohammad Salman Mirza, who was ruled out after fracturing his left thumb. The squad assembled in Karachi for a four-day camp at the Hanif Mohammad High-Performance Centre and was due to depart for Japan on the night of Thursday, 24 September.
Hesson said the tournament offered Farhan, who is yet to captain Pakistan in white-ball cricket, a chance to strengthen his leadership credentials. “For Sahibzada Farhan, the Asian Games are an excellent opportunity to gain captaincy experience,” he said. He added that Farhan’s role at the Games would not determine Pakistan’s long-term captaincy plans, saying the decision rested with the selection committee and the PCB chairman.
The India question
India are the defending champions in the men’s competition, having won gold at Hangzhou in 2022, and have also won back-to-back Twenty20 World Cups. Since Hesson took over as coach in May 2025, Pakistan have lost to India three times in the Asia Cup 2025 and once at this year’s Twenty20 World Cup. Geo News reported that India have sent a full-strength squad to Japan, while Pakistan’s is a side built around youth.
Dawn reported that India and Pakistan are placed on opposite sides of the men’s draw and cannot face each other in the semi-finals; a meeting would be possible only in the gold-medal match or the bronze-medal play-off on 3 October, provided both sides win through the earlier rounds. Hesson said Pakistan needed to start well and not look beyond the early stages. “There’s a lot of cricket to be played between now and being able to play in a final for both sides,” he said.
Hesson also pushed back against any suggestion that Pakistan’s white-ball cricket was in decline, pointing to the T20 side’s rise from eighth to fifth in the ICC rankings since he took charge and a run to the Asia Cup final after a period of failing to progress beyond the early rounds of major tournaments.
Why it matters
Pakistan have never won a medal in the men’s cricket competition at the Asian Games, losing the bronze-medal match in 2010 and 2023 and not competing in 2014. A medal of any colour in Japan would therefore be a first, and the tournament offers a young, largely second-string squad a rare chance to play a multi-nation T20 event against senior international opposition.
The campaign also carries continuity for Pakistani sport at these Games. Pakistan’s 246-member contingent began competing when the Games opened in Nagoya on 19 September, and the women’s cricket team took the bronze medal on 22 September.
The tournament also sits against a wider debate about Pakistan cricket’s leadership and selection, which has been prominent since the Test side’s 3-0 defeat in England in September. Hesson, who took over as head coach during that series, and Farhan, whose long-term captaincy role remains undefined, are both effectively on trial in Japan.
What is still uncertain
The most significant uncertainty is whether Pakistan and India actually meet, and when. Dawn reported that the two sides are in opposite halves of the knockout bracket and could therefore meet only in a medal match on 3 October; other previews, including ESPNcricinfo’s tournament guide, described a likely semi-final on 1 October. This article follows the bracket reading in Dawn’s report and the ICC’s fixture list, but the discrepancy is noted because it changes the significance of the 1 October semi-finals.
Pakistan’s quarter-final opponent is the runner-up of Group B (Hong Kong, Malaysia and Oman), according to the ICC’s fixture list. Whether Pakistan’s youngest players are selected for the opening match, how the side adapts to the Nisshin surface, and how far the second-string squad can progress will only become clear from 28 September onwards.
Sources & reporting notes
This is a synthesis of published reporting, not eyewitness coverage. Sources were reviewed on 23 September 2026. Hesson's remarks are reported as carried by Dawn, Geo News and Agence France-Presse (via Al Jazeera); the tournament format and fixtures are drawn from the International Cricket Council's guide. Bracket and scheduling details differ slightly across reports and are flagged above.
- Dawn — Hesson says Pakistan preparing for possible India clash at Asian Games23 September 2026 · Hesson's remarks at the National Bank Stadium camp, his claims about the T20 side's progress, and the report that the two sides are on opposite sides of the draw and could meet only in a medal match on 3 October.
- Geo News — Asian Games offer Farhan chance to gain captaincy experience, says Mike Hesson23 September 2026 · Independent account of the press conference, India's full-strength squad, and Hesson's comments on Farhan's captaincy and the PCB selection process.
- Al Jazeera (AFP) — Pakistan must 'catch up' with India in T20 cricket, says coach Hesson23 September 2026 · Wire report on the same press conference, Pakistan's record against India since 2025, and Pakistan's losses in the bronze play-offs in 2010 and 2023.
- ICC — Asian Games Cricket: All you need to know22 September 2026 · The official tournament format, Group B composition, the quarter-final against the Group B runner-up, semi-final and medal-match dates, and the Pakistan squad list.
- ESPNcricinfo — Asian Games 2026: All you need to know about the men's cricket competition22 September 2026 · The tournament guide that described a likely Pakistan-India semi-final on 1 October, and India's decision to send a full-strength squad.
- Geo News — Pakistan cricket team begins Asian Games preparations with Karachi camp20 September 2026 · The Karachi training camp, the 24 September departure, and Mohammad Wasim Jnr's call-up to replace the injured Mohammad Salman Mirza.
- Dawn — Sahibzada to lead Pakistan at Asian Games11 June 2026 · The original PCB squad announcement, Farhan's appointment, and the omission of Babar Azam, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Shadab Khan and Salman Ali Agha.
