Pakistan’s men’s cricket team came home from the Asian Games with a medal no Pakistan men’s side had won in the sport before, even if it was not the colour they wanted. India beat them by 19 runs in the gold-medal match at Korogi Athletic Park in Nisshin, Japan, on Saturday, October 3, and held on to the title they won at Hangzhou in 2023. Pakistan’s silver is their first in men’s cricket at the Games and only their second men’s medal, after bronze in 2010. They finished fourth in 2023, after losing the bronze-medal match to Bangladesh. The final was also the first men’s cricket meeting between the two countries at the Asian Games, which gave it extra weight beyond the medal itself. Pakistan’s women have a better record in the event, having won gold at the 2010 and 2014 Games.

On paper it was always going to be an uneven contest. India fielded a full-strength side with Shreyas Iyer as captain, and a line-up that included Abhishek Sharma, Tilak Varma, Ishan Kishan, Sanju Samson, Axar Patel, Washington Sundar and Jasprit Bumrah. Pakistan arrived with a new-look squad of 15 led by Sahibzada Farhan, the leading run-scorer at the 2026 T20 World Cup with 383 runs at an average of 76.60. Babar Azam, Shaheen Afridi, Salman Ali Agha and Shadab Khan were not part of the group. Several of those picked, including Akif Javed, Ali Raza, Maaz Sadaqat and Saad Masood, had not made their T20I debuts when the squad was named. Head coach Mike Hesson and his support staff worked with a young group, and Farhan said before the tournament that the team had trained for different match scenarios to cope with unfamiliar conditions in Japan.

Pakistan’s route to the final was smooth. After opening their campaign in the quarter-finals against Hong Kong, they met Bangladesh in the first semi-final on October 1, a rain-affected game in which Farhan won the toss and chose to field. Bangladesh were held to 111, and Pakistan chased it down for the loss of six wickets in 11.3 overs, with Abdul Samad and Hasan Nawaz steering the chase. Hasan finished unbeaten on 27 off 22 balls, a small preview of what was to come two days later. The win put Pakistan into a gold-medal match against India, while Sri Lanka took the bronze.

India won the toss and batted first on a dry surface, and the early overs belonged to them. Abhishek Sharma hit 61 off 28 balls, and Tilak Varma finished unbeaten on 51 off 22 deliveries, taking India to 211 for six. Pakistan’s bowlers did claw things back in the middle overs. India reached 100 in just 55 balls, but then lost Ishan Kishan for 20 and Iyer for 21, and at one stage were 133 for five in the 15th over. Arafat Minhas took two for 25, Ahmed Daniyal also took two wickets, and Abrar Ahmed gave away only 29 runs in his four overs while picking up a wicket. Saim Ayub also took a wicket. The late hitting still carried India past 210, and it left Pakistan chasing a target that needed something exceptional.

The chase began badly. Pakistan slipped to 39 for three in the seventh over, and the match looked set for a comfortable Indian win. Hasan Nawaz, 23, and Saim Ayub then put together an 87-run fourth-wicket partnership that brought the contest back to life. Hasan reached his half-century off 28 balls and kept attacking as the required rate climbed, hitting five fours and seven sixes in all. He was dismissed on the final ball of the match, caught behind off Shivam Dube for 96 off 51 balls, a strike rate of 188. Pakistan finished on 192 for six, 19 runs short, having kept the contest alive until the last over. For India it was a seventh straight T20I win over Pakistan, and their men’s team followed the women’s side in winning cricket gold at the Games. Farhan, who had scored 57, 58 and 40 against India at the 2025 Asia Cup, was also seen as the key man for Pakistan before the final.

India’s side were gracious about the effort, and Iyer described the win as a collective effort. Hasan’s innings drew the most praise from Pakistan’s fans, many of whom called it the kind of fight the team had not shown against India in recent big games. Some of the online reaction was harsher. Saim Ayub was trolled after two catch drops during India’s innings, even though he played a large part in Pakistan’s recovery with the bat, and Pakistan’s fielding in the first half of the match is likely to be a talking point for the coaching staff.

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Off the field, the final carried the usual India-Pakistan tension. Iyer and Farhan did not shake hands at the toss, and the players did not shake hands at the end either, continuing a practice that began at the 2025 Asia Cup after the Pahalgam attack and the military conflict that followed. At that tournament, Hesson said Pakistan had been ready to shake hands and were disappointed that India did not. Al Jazeera reported that the medal ceremony in Japan was also substantially delayed, and that ICC chairman Jay Shah presented medals only to the Indian players, while Pakistan and Sri Lanka received theirs from Asian Games officials. No reason was given for the delay or for the apparent change to the ceremony plans. Reports noted that Indian and Pakistani athletes in other sports at the Games have greeted each other normally, and that the no-handshake stance is largely confined to cricket.

For Pakistan, the result is a mixed one. They did not win gold, and the loss extends a long run of defeats to India in major tournament matches. But a young, second-string group with several uncapped players reached the final of a major multi-sport event and pushed the favourites until the last over. In Hasan Nawaz the side has a batter who can play the finisher’s role in the pressure moments that matter against India. Farhan has now led the team through his first multi-game tournament as captain, and Abrar Ahmed, Arafat Minhas and Ahmed Daniyal all showed they can bowl in a high-scoring match. The Pakistan Cricket Board is likely to point to the silver as evidence that its depth is improving, with a busy international season ahead that includes England’s tour of Pakistan.

Compiled by the Weekly PK Sports Desk.