India reach semi-finals despite Afghanistan match being abandoned due to rain

India’s Asian Games cricket quarter-final against Afghanistan was abandoned without a toss due to persistent rain and a wet outfield. With the rain continuing and the outfield remaining unplayable, the umpires were forced to call off the match 16 minutes before the scheduled toss.

Despite no play taking place, India advanced to the semi-finals thanks to their higher position in the ICC T20I rankings.

As India were ranked higher than Afghanistan according to the ICC rankings, Afghanistan were eliminated from the tournament. India will face the winner of Tuesday’s quarter-final between Nepal and Sri Lanka in the second semi-final on Thursday.

According to the tournament rules, Sri Lanka, one of the four seeded teams that received direct entry into the quarter-finals, will also advance to the semi-finals if their match against Nepal is abandoned due to rain.

Earlier on Monday, the first quarter-final between Hong Kong and Pakistan was also abandoned before the toss because of rain.

Notably, Afghanistan have now endured the frustration of having their match against India washed out by rain in two consecutive editions of the Asian Games.

The same fate befell them in the final of the 2023 Asian Games. On that occasion, the match was abandoned after 18.2 overs of the first innings due to rain. India were awarded the gold medal based on their higher seeding, while Afghanistan had to settle for silver.