(Motorsports news) Cricket will compete for medals in the upcoming Asian Games 2022 in Hangzhou, China, as the sport returns to the continental extravaganza after a nine-year absence. Despite its popularity in the Indian subcontinent, cricket has only appeared in a few multi-sport tournaments.

Cricket has only been played at the Olympics once, in Paris in 1900, and twice at the Commonwealth Games (CWG), in Kuala Lumpur in 1998 and Birmingham in 2022. When the Asian Games 2022 are rescheduled in 2023, cricket will be included. Cricket debuted as a medal event at the Asian Games in 2010 and was contested again at the 2014 edition. The games were not given international status.

Cricket at Asian Games 2010:

Cricket made its debut in the 2010 Asian Games in Guangzhou, China, in the shortest format – Twenty20 – for both men and women. The Guanggong International Cricket Stadium, which was built specifically for the Asian Games, hosted all of the matches. The men’s competition included nine teams, including three Test-playing nations, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, and Pakistan, who sent reserve squads.

However, due to international obligations, India did not field a team. Pakistan’s match against China in the men’s event was one of the tournament’s highlights. Pakistan won by 128 runs after scoring a tournament-high 183/1. Pakistan’s Khalid Latif finished as the tournament’s leading run-scorer with an unbeaten 103 that included five sixes.

So far, it is the only century achieved at the Asian Games. Bangladesh and Afghanistan advanced to the men’s final after the group stage and knockouts. Bangladesh won the tournament, claiming the country’s first-ever gold medal at the Asian Games, led by Mohammad Ashraful. Meanwhile, Pakistan won bronze after defeating Sri Lanka.

Pakistan won the gold medal in the eight-team women’s competition by defeating Bangladesh, while Japan claimed bronze.

“Obviously, not having the Indians was a big plus for us because we were the most experienced team in the competition in their absence,” said Pakistan women’s captain Sana Mir. “A win is a win and it has made us all very confident and proud.”

Cricket at Asian Games 2014:

Cricket was one of 36 medal sports at the 2014 Asian Games in Incheon, South Korea, and was played in the rapidly rising T20 style once again. The men’s and women’s fields were each increased to ten teams. However, India has opted to withdraw from the event once more.

As with the previous edition, a cricket stadium was constructed for the event, and all cricket matches were held at the Yeonhui Cricket Ground. Bangladesh achieved a record 224/9 versus Kuwait in this edition to record the highest team total in the Asian Games. Bangladesh defeated Kuwait by 203 runs after dismissing them for just 21 runs.

Sri Lanka won the gold medal in the men’s event this time, defeating Afghanistan in the final. Champions from the previous season Bangladesh were eliminated in the semi-finals against Sri Lanka due to rain, with the outcome determined by a coin toss. The Bangla Tigers, on the other hand, took bronze after defeating Hong Kong in the third-place match.

In the women’s competition, Pakistan successfully defended their championship in a rain-soaked final. The women’s Pakistan cricket team defeated Bangladesh in the gold medal play-off, which was determined by the Duckworth-Lewis method (a mechanism that calculates target scores in rain-affected matches to compel results). Sri Lanka grabbed the final podium slot by defeating China for bronze.

Also read: Nepal wins by a massive 273 runs, breaking the host country’s T20I record