India name star-studded team to defend men’s cricket gold at 20th Asian Games

India has picked a powerful team packed with IPL stars to defend its gold medal in the men’s cricket competition at the Aichi-Nagoya 2026 Asian Games.

The Indian men’s cricket team, which was announced by the Board of Control for Cricket in India on the weekend, includes teenage prodigy and dashing opening batter Vaibhav Sooriyavanshi. The team will be captained by Shreyas Iyer with Tilak Varma as deputy.

India’s pace spearhead Jasprit Bumrah is also part of the 15-man squad picked for the 20th Asian Games in Japan from September 19 to October 4.

At just 15, Vaibhav Sooriyavanshi is now the youngest player to be picked for any Indian team for an international event. The call-up came on the back of brilliant showings in the Indian Premier League 2026, where he finished as the highest run-scorer.

The 31-year-old Iyer will replace Suryakumar Yadav as India’s new T20 captain.

Cricket is being played at the Asian Games for the fourth time. Matches will be played in T20 format and have been granted international status.

At the last Asian Games in Hangzhou, India won gold medals in both men’s and women’s cricket.

India men’s squad for 20th Asian Games: Shreyas Iyer, Tilak Varma, Ravi Bishnoi, Abhishek Sharma, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Jasprit Bumrah, Sanju Samson, Axar Patel, Harshit Rana, Ishan Kishan, Washington Sundar, Arshdeep Singh, Shivam Dube, Varun Chakravarthy, Vaibhav Sooriyanvanshi.