The rain won before India and Afghanistan could even step onto the field, but it was India that emerged on the right side of the washout, advancing to the Asian Games men’s cricket semi-final without a ball being bowled.
Persistent showers and a waterlogged outfield forced officials to call off the eagerly awaited quarter-final in Nisshin just 16 minutes before the scheduled toss. With no play possible, India progressed on the strength of their superior position in the official ICC T20I rankings.
India will now face the winner of Thursday’s quarter-final between Nepal and Sri Lanka. Sri Lanka, like India, Pakistan and Bangladesh, had entered the knockouts as a seeded team and could similarly advance without playing if rain washes out their match against Nepal.
The weather has already disrupted the cricket schedule. Earlier Monday, the Hong Kong-Pakistan quarter-final was also abandoned without a ball being bowled, sending Pakistan through under the same seeding rules.
For Afghanistan, the washout brought back memories of the 2023 Asian Games final in Hangzhou, when rain ended the gold-medal clash after 18.2 overs. Afghanistan settled for silver, while India took gold.