Vaibhav, Sanju and Abhishek.. Team India Squad vs Afghanistan For Asian Games 2026 Quarter Final

India will begin their defense of the Gold Medal on 28th September, facing Afghanistan in their quarter-final match. They qualified directly for the quarter-finals based on their continental ranking, along with Pakistan, Sri Lanka, and Bangladesh. Afghanistan, on the other hand, had to play the group stages, where they finished second. The Asian Games are being played for the fourth time, and in 2023, India won the Gold medal under the captaincy of Ruturaj Gaikwad.

This time, Shreyas Iyer is the skipper, and India has sent a full-strength squad, including Jasprit Bumrah. The Asian Games began on 24th September 2026 and will end on 3rd October 2026. Meanwhile, India's women's team already secured their Gold medal by defeating Sri Lanka in the final.

Team India Squad vs Afghanistan For Asian Games 2026

India won the Asian Games in 2023 under Ruturaj Gaikwad, and now they are all set to defend their title under the leadership of Shreyas Iyer. They are coming off a close win against Japan in a one-off T20I match on 22nd September, with the same squad that will participate in the Asian Games.

Team India Squad Against Afghanistan For Asian Games 2026: Shreyas Iyer (Captain), Ishan Kishan, Abhishek Sharma, Sanju Samson, Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, Tilak Verma, Shivam Dube, Axar Patel, Washington Sundar, Jasprit Bumrah, Arshdeep Singh, Vipraj Nigam, Ravi Bishnoi, Yash Thakur.

Nitish Kumar Reddy was also supposed to be part of the squad, but he was withdrawn to take part in the ODI series against the West Indies, which is happening simultaneously, as Hardik Pandya is still injured.

Abhishek, Samson, Sooryavanshi? Who will play?

From the looks of it, it seems like VVS Laxman will prefer Abhishek Sharma and Sanju Samson for the opening slot. They played in the 3-match T20I series against Afghanistan earlier this month, then faced Japan as well. It is unfortunate for Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, who had a terrific IPL season, to miss out on the Orange Cap. He made his debut against England but didn't do well, though he was Man of the Series against Zimbabwe. After that, he was left out in the series against Afghanistan.

Abhishek is coming off a 30-balls fastest century in T20Is against Afghanistan but was dismissed for a duck in the match against Japan on a turning wicket. Sanju was the Player of the Tournament in the 2026 T20 World Cup but has been a little inconsistent since then. In the game against Japan, most batters failed, and the spinners helped India win a close match. The pitches will be similar to those they faced against the host nation, and it will be interesting to see how they fare on them.