Afghanistan A have arrived in Japan ahead of their opening match in the men’s cricket competition at the Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games.
The AfghanAbdalyan will begin their Group A campaign against hosts Japan on Thursday, September 24, at Korogi Park in Nisshin.
The official Aichi-Nagoya 2026 competition schedule lists the match for 9:00 a.m. local time.
Afghanistan will have little recovery time before returning to the same competition two days in succession. Their second Group A match is against Nepal on Friday, September 25, with the official Games schedule setting that fixture for 2:00 p.m. local time.
The Aichi-Nagoya 2026 Organising Committee has placed Afghanistan, Japan and Nepal together in Group A. Hong Kong, China, Malaysia and Oman make up Group B.
The top two teams from each group will progress to the knockout stage, where they will be joined by the four seeded teams — India, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka.
Darwish Rasooli will captain Afghanistan’s 15-member squad. The Afghanistan Cricket Board’s selection also includes experienced players Najibullah Zadran and Karim Janat alongside a group of players who featured in this year’s Shpageeza Cricket League.
The squad comprises Rasooli, Mohammad Ishaq, Mohammad Akram, Hassan Eisakhil, Khalid Taniwal, Imran Mir, Faisal Khan Shinozada, Najibullah Zadran, Farmanullah Safi, Ismat Alam, Karim Janat, Nangyal Kharoti, Arab Gul Momand, Faridoon Dawoodzai and Abdullah Ahmadzai.
The International Cricket Council has independently confirmed Afghanistan’s squad and Rasooli’s captaincy for the Games.
Japan’s cricket association also lists Afghanistan against Japan at Korogi Park on September 24, providing a second official confirmation of the opening fixture.
Afghanistan will need to finish in the top two of its three-team group to advance to the quarterfinals.
