Asiad men’s cricket final: India bats first against arch rival Pakistan in gold medal clash

Published: October 03, 2026 10:53 AM IST

India won the toss and elected to bat first in the Asian Games men’s cricket final against Pakistan, with the rivalry continuing after India’s victory in the previous year’s Asia Cup final.

India’s opening batsman Abhishek Sharma scored a half-century in the powerplay, contributing significantly to their 81 runs, though Sanju Samson had a brief and disappointing innings.

Both teams have made specific squad changes for the final, with India fielding an unchanged XI from their semi-final and Pakistan introducing all-rounder Saad Masood.

Nisshin: India won the toss and elected to bat first against Pakistan in the final of the Asian Games men’s cricket. The rivalry returns after the Asia Cup clash a year ago, where India emerged victorious in the final.

Captain Shreyas Iyer has fielded an unchanged squad from the previous semi-final fixture against Sri Lanka, while Pakistan started all-rounder Saad Masood, replacing Mohammad Wasim.

Having elected to bat first, India tallied 81 runs in the powerplay with Abhishek Sharma leading the charge with an explosive 61(28) including 3 fours and 7 sixes.   Keralite Sanju Samson was dismissed for a disappointing 2(4) by Pakistan’s Ahmed Daniyal.

India:
Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, Abhishek Sharma, Sanju Samson (wk), Shreyas Iyer (c), Ishan Kishan, Tilak Varma, Shivam Dube, Axar Patel, Washington Sundar, Ravi Bishnoi, Jasprit Bumrah

Pakistan:
Sahibzada Farhan (c), Maaz Sadaqat, Usman Khan (wk), Saim Ayub, Hasan Nawaz, Abdul Samad, Arafat Minhas, Ahmed Daniyal, Saad Masood, Abrar Ahmed, Sufiyan Moqim.