In spite of not delivering a single ball on the field, the Indian team was able to make its way to the semis of the men’s cricket competition held as a part of the Asian Games 2026.
It happened as a result of the cancellation of the game between the Indian and Afghan teams due to rain.
There were rains before their matches played in the Korogi Sports Park, Nisshin, Japan, thus, it was likely that the match would be abandoned.
Players and officials waited for the match to begin, but rains killed all hopes. The teams exchanged handshakes formally.
The knock-out rules in the tournament settle any abandoned games on the basis of ICC T20I rankings.
In case an abandoned game occurs, the higher ranked team from the two in the game wins automatically. India had been ranked number one in the game, and Afghanistan had been ranked tenth.
India knows very well about this law. In the recently concluded Asian Games held at Hangzhou, the finals of the men’s match played between India and Afghanistan were also canceled owing to heavy rains.
By then, Afghanistan had scored 112 runs for the loss of five wickets in 18.2 overs. As India couldn't play a minimum of five overs, they were declared winners via rankings.
This rule has also been instrumental for India's female team to make it into the semis of 2023, after their quarter-final was washed out because of rain.
It is very rare in cricket to decide results on the basis of world rankings alone, especially when it comes to finals in major events.
However, the Afghan side has not been able to get any victory against India in the T20I. India has won 11 out of 13 matches played so far between them.
The two remaining matches, which were held in the Asian Games, were no result matches.
This implies that Afghanistan has not lost to India only because of the rain.
However, it was not only India that benefited from the weather. Due to heavy rains, the second quarter finals game played between Pakistan and Hong Kong China had to be stopped.
Pakistan qualified for the semi-finals due to their higher rank in the ICC, just as India had.
The weather has definitely had an impact on Japan. Some matches have been shortened, while others have been cancelled because of the weather. Even the game of the Japan team in their group had to be reduced to 15 overs each.
India awaits information on the opponents who will play against them in the semi-finals. The third match of the quarter finals will be played between Sri Lanka and Nepal, and the winner will play India in the semi-finals.
The game is set to take place tomorrow morning, while India will have to remain spectators.
Winners of the semi-finals play in the gold medal final match, while losers of the semi-final matches go for bronze. Medal matches conclude on October 3rd.
The BCCI has made sure that the team they send for the defense of their gold medal consists of some great players. A few of them include Shreyas Iyer, Tilak Varma, Sanju Samson, Abhishek Sharma, and Vaibhav Sooryavanshi.
The players have been playing in the T20Is series against Afghanistan and have managed to sweep the series 3-0.
This clearly makes them favorites for the upcoming tournament.
There is an implicit price that comes with a walkover. India qualifies for the semi-finals without having to play in the knockout round and without playing under conditions that have proven to be challenging for other nations in Japan.
The rains that enabled their qualification may also upset their semi-final and final matches. If the matches get cancelled as well, the rankings criterion will prevail once again.
This will work in favor of India, but the same issue with the criteria as the one pointed out in Hangzhou will arise again.
