India retained their Asian Games men’s cricket gold medal on Saturday, beating Pakistan by 19 runs in the final at the Korogi Sports Park in Nisshin.
The result completes a successful title defence for India at the Aichi-Nagoya Games, and it came in a close contest against their traditional rivals.
India’s first men’s title came at Hangzhou in 2023, but it ended without a ball being bowled to them. India were declared winners of that final against Afghanistan under an Asian Games rule that gives the higher-ranked team the honours when rain prevents a result. Afghanistan had to settle for a third consecutive silver.
This time there was no weather-related ending. India won on the field, against a Pakistan side that had also contested the Asian Games’ earlier finals, in a match that went down to the closing stages.
The men’s win completes a golden double for India in Japan. The women’s team won gold earlier in the Games, defeating Sri Lanka by 147 runs at the same venue. They posted 216 for 3, the highest team total in women’s cricket at the Asian Games, and it was India’s first gold of the Aichi-Nagoya Games.
The victory adds to India’s record in Asian Games cricket. After skipping the sport at the 2010 and 2014 editions, India now hold both the men’s and women’s titles at consecutive Games.