India beat Pakistan by 19 runs on Saturday, October 3, 2026, to win the men's T20 cricket gold medal at the Asian Games for the second time in a row. The final was played at Korogi Sports Park in Nisshin, in Japan's Aichi region.
It was the first time India and Pakistan had met in a men's cricket final at the Asian Games. The win was India's 19th gold medal at the ongoing Games.
India captain Shreyas Iyer won the toss and chose to bat first. India finished on 211/6 in 20 overs, which gave Pakistan a target of 212. The match began at 1:30 PM local time in Japan, which was 10:00 AM in India.
Abhishek Sharma set the pace at the top of the order with 61 off 28 balls. Tilak Varma finished the innings with an unbeaten 51 off 22 balls. Shivam Dube also helped in the final overs as India scored quickly.
Pakistan's bowlers had mixed results. Match records list Minhas with 3 wickets for 25 runs and Ahmed Daniyal with 2 for 43.
Pakistan began the chase well. They were 62/2 after 5 overs, 97/3 after 12 overs and 117/3 after 13 overs.
Hasan Nawaz scored 96 and kept his team in the game until the final over. But India's bowlers kept Pakistan from getting close, and the innings ended on 192/6 in 20 overs.
Axar Patel took 2 wickets for 29 runs, Washington Sundar took 2 for 29 and Shivam Dube took 2 for 33.
No handshake at the toss:Iyer and Pakistan captain Sahibzada Farhan did not shake hands at the toss. The two teams have followed the same practice since last year's Asia Cup.
India reached the final with a 124-run win over Sri Lanka in the semi-final on Thursday, October 1, 2026.
India now leads the T20 international head-to-head against Pakistan 15 to 3. Before this match, the score was 14 to 3.
