Who Will Win The Gold Medal If Rain Washes Out India vs Pakistan Asian Games Men's Cricket Final?

After an emphatic 124-run victory over Sri Lanka in the semi-final, India are set to face arch-rivals Pakistan in the final of the men's cricket event at the 2026 Asian Games on Saturday. Shreyas Iyer and Co. posted 169/7 in 20 overs after being put in to bat by Sri Lanka. Later, Jasprit Bumrah, Axar Patel and Abhishek Sharma picked up two wickets each as India bundled Sri Lanka out for just 45, securing a place in the final and assuring the country of at least a silver medal. However, as the players gear up for the summit clash, all eyes will be on the weather in Nisshin, with rain likely to play spoilsport.

According to AccuWeather, there is a 62% chance of rain in the morning, which is expected to drop to 25% by the afternoon. The temperature is likely to hover around 20 degrees Celsius, with cloud cover of about 37%.

Who will win gold if the match is abandoned?

At the 2023 Asian Games in Hangzhou, India won the gold medal in the men's cricket event after the final against Afghanistan was washed out due to rain. As the higher-ranked T20I side, India were declared champions. However, that will not be the case in Nisshin. Under the rules for the ongoing edition, the gold medal will be shared between the two finalists if the match is abandoned without a result.

Defending champions India are into only their second Asian Games in the cricket event and have not met their arch-rivals Pakistan in the five games they have played since the Hangzhou 2023 Games. And this remains the case in the women's cricket event too, as the Harmanpreet Kaur side, which recently won the gold medal after beating Sri Lanka, has not met the Women in Green at the Asiad.

The rivalry takes centre stage for the biggest prize now as India look to defend their gold medal from the 2023 edition with a full-strength Indian team on the Japanese shores.

India made light work of a second-string Sri Lankan side on a challenging surface as they registered a stellar 124-run win with Ishan Kishan and bowlers leading the way. On the other hand, Pakistan chased a decent 112 against Bangladesh in the semifinal in a six-wicket win with nine balls to spare in a curtailed game.

(With IANS Inputs)

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India Cricket Team Pakistan Cricket Team Shreyas Iyer Vaibhav Sooryavanshi Sahibzada Farhan Cricket Pakistan vs India, Final Asian Games 2026 India