Bangladesh, India, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka have been granted direct entry into the men's cricket quarterfinals at the 2026 Asian Games.

The men's T20 tournament is scheduled to kick off on September 24 in Nagoya, featuring a preliminary stage with six nations competing for the four remaining quarterfinal spots.

Group A consists of Afghanistan, Nepal, and hosts Japan, while Group B features Hong Kong, Malaysia and Oman.

The top two sides from each group will advance to the knockout round to join the four pre-seeded Asian powerhouses.

Unlike the men's event, the women's competition will run from September 17 to 22 and will begin straight at the quarterfinal stage.

Bangladesh will launch their campaign against China, while reigning champions India face Japan.

In the remaining quarterfinals, Sri Lanka will battle Malaysia and Pakistan will clash with Thailand.

Every match across both the men's and women's divisions will take place in the shortest format of the game.

At the previous Asian Games in Hangzhou—which took place in 2023 following a delay caused by the Covid-19 pandemic—India clinched gold in both cricket events.

The Indian men were awarded gold as the higher-ranked side after rain washed out their final against Afghanistan while India's women defeated Sri Lanka to secure top honors.

Both Bangladesh teams fell short of the podium in Hangzhou, with the men's squad finishing fourth after a bronze-medal loss to Pakistan and the women's side also missing out on bronze following a defeat to the same opponents.