Harmanpreet Kaur, the India women’s cricket team captain, will only be able to play in the Asian Games if her side reach the final of the mega event starting September 23 in Hangzhou.
Four teams in both the men’s and women’s events — India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh — will be directly playing from the last-eight stage, courtesy their ICC T20I ranking on June 1. All the matches will have official T20I status.
Harmanpreet has been slapped with a two-match ban for her public outburst about match officials after an ODI game against Bangladesh recently. So she will be ineligible to play the quarter-final, which will surely be against an associate nation, and the semi-final if India qualify.
The Ruturaj Gaikwad-led India men’s team too has got a direct entry into the quarter-finals on the basis of their ICC T20I ranking on June 1.
The men’s event will comprise 18 teams, while the women’s competition will have 14 sides participating.
The women’s competition will start on September 19 and end with the gold and bronze medal matches on September 26. The men’s event starts on September 28 and the final will be played on October 7, two days after the men’s ICC 50-over World Cup starts in Ahmedabad.
With inputs from PTI
