India and Pakistan advance to Asian Games cricket semifinals after quarterfinal washouts

Cricket heavyweights India and Pakistan advanced to the Asian Games semifinals without having to hit a ball on Monday after rain forced organizers to abandon two scheduled quarterfinal matches.

Defending champion India advanced over Afghanistan, and Pakistan advanced over Hong Kong in results determined on the basis of world rankings.

Shreyas Iyer and his India squad featuring stars such as pace bowler Jasprit Bumrah and 15-year-old batting sensation Vaibhav Sooryavanshi haven’t had to play yet in the tournament, although did have a friendly warmup win over Japan last week.

India have won back-to-back Twenty20 Cricket World Cup titles and is home to the sport’s richest league. The Asian Games is using the T20 format, which will also be contested at the Los Angeles Olympics in 2028.

Pakistan went through first against Hong Kong without a ball being bowled under competition rules that say the highest-seeded side progresses.

A few hours later, with rain in the air, India progressed against Afghanistan with no prospect of play for the same reason.

It deprived spectators at the Korogi Athletic Park the chance to see India's Sooryavanshi in action.

The fearless teenager topped the T20 Indian Premier League batting charts earlier this year.

"We are here for the match but unfortunately it rained. The rain started yesterday, so hard luck for us. We would have been happy to play here with India — our players are in form," said Afghanistan's Mohammad Akram. "We played two matches here on this ground, so we know the condition very well. But unfortunately the rain has ruined everything.

"We saw the rain on our mobile phones. Everyone was sad." Sri Lanka play Nepal and Bangladesh face Malaysia, weather permitting, in the last two quarter-finals on Tuesday.

India will play either Sri Lanka or Nepal in the semifinals, and Pakistan will meet either Bangladesh or Malaysia. India, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka were seeded for the tournament, and only joined in the quarterfinal stage.

Agencies