Hasan Nawaz made 96 for Pakistan, and India’s bowlers still won the Asian Games final by 19 runs
India defended their Asian Games men’s cricket gold in Nisshin, posting 211 for 6 behind fifties from Abhishek Sharma and Tilak Varma and holding Pakistan to 192 for 6.
Oct 3, 2026
Pakistan’s chase at Korogi Park in Nisshin was one man’s work. Hasan Nawaz made 96 off 51 balls, hit seven sixes, and still walked off a loser when he fell to the last ball of the match.
By then the gold was gone. Pakistan finished on 192 for 6, chasing India’s 211 for 6, and the 19-run margin gives India their second straight Asian Games title in men’s cricket after Hangzhou in 2023.
Abhishek sets the pace, Tilak finishes it
Shreyas Iyer won the toss and batted on a ground that was a baseball field until its conversion this year. It looked brave at the time and obvious by the end. Vaibhav Sooryavanshi hit back-to-back sixes in the second over before going for 15 off nine balls. Abhishek Sharma took over from there.
Abhishek’s 61 came off 28 balls with seven sixes, and it was not a clean innings. Saim Ayub dropped him twice and he survived a run-out chance. In a final, those misses cost more than the runs themselves, because they let India keep swinging when a wobble was due.
The middle overs belonged to a string of quick cameos rather than one big partnership. Ishan Kishan made 20 off 18, Iyer chipped in, and Shivam Dube hit two sixes in 27 off 15. Then Tilak Varma closed it out with 51 not out off 22 balls, and India took 69 off the last four overs to get past 200.
Hasan Nawaz nearly drags Pakistan home
Pakistan’s openers put on 33 before Washington Sundar removed Sahibzada Farhan for 10. Maaz Sadaqat made 23. What followed was almost entirely Hasan Nawaz.
He and Saim Ayub, who made 29 off 22, added 87 and briefly made 212 look reachable. Hasan hit five fours as well as his seven sixes, and on another day his 96 would be the innings everyone remembers from this final.
India’s bowlers shared the wickets out evenly. Axar Patel took 2 for 29, Washington 2 for 29 and Dube 2 for 33, with Dube bowling the last over. Off its final ball Hasan tried to pull a slower bouncer and nicked it through to Sanju Samson. Jasprit Bumrah went wicketless but conceded only 33 from his four overs in a game of 403 runs. Ravi Bishnoi had a harder day, going for 44 in three.
For Pakistan, Arafat Minhas returned 2 for 25, the best figures of the match. He also had Abhishek stumped.
No handshake, then a flag
Iyer and Pakistan captain Sahibzada Farhan did not shake hands at the toss, keeping to the policy India have followed against Pakistan since the 2025 Asia Cup. After the win, India’s players carried the national flag around the ground.
Both cricket golds go home with India. The women had already won theirs, beating Sri Lanka by 147 runs in their final. Sri Lanka took the men’s bronze, beating Bangladesh by 63 runs.
Iyer will get the photographs. The final was won by his bowlers, who kept taking wickets at the other end while Hasan was taking them apart. Pakistan never had a second batter going with him, and 96 from one man was 19 short.