Shreyas Iyer’s Team India will begin defense of their gold medal at Asian Games 2026 on September 28 in Japan.
Published: September 15, 2026, 10:49 AM IST
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Varun Chakravarthy celebrates after claiming a wicket in 1st T20 vs Afghanistan(Photo: PTI)
Asian Games 2026: T20 World Cup champions Team India will begin their defense of the Asian Games gold medal at Aichi-Nagoya in Japan from September 28 with their quarterfinal clashBut even before they depart for Japan, Shreyas Iyer’s side have been dealt a major blow with India’s highest-ranked T20I bowler – Varun Chakravarthy – set to be ruled out of the tournament.
The Kolkata Knight Riders off-spinner was the No1-ranked bowler in ICC rankings till early March this yearBut he has fallen to No7 in the current rankings after playing only handful of T20I matches since the T20 World Cup 2026 earlier this year.
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Chakravarthy had made a comeback from his latest injury in the three-match T20I series against Afghanistan and bowled an impressive spell of 4 overs to concede only 16 runs – without a single boundary – in the first T20I match at the Arun Jaitley Stadium in New Delhi on SundayBut in a latest injury setback, Chakravarthy has now been ruled out of the remaining two T20I matches in the series due to a side strain suffered in the opening fixture.
Rehab: Cleared after 2 months at CoE following an injury in England.
Comeback: Bowled a brilliant 1/16 (4 overs) vs Afghanistan in the 1st T20I.
⚠️ Relapse: Suffered an immediate injury breakdown right after the match.
❌ Out: Ruled out of the series, putting CoE… pic.twitter.com/kh725SAEKI
— CREX (@Crex_live) September 14, 2026
The bad news for Indian team is that Chakravarthy has now returned to Centre of Excellence (CoE) in Bengaluru to begin his injury rehab and could be ruled out of the Asian Games 2026 campaign as wellThe call on his participation in multi-nation event will be taken by the CoE after an assessment later this week.
Shreyas Iyer’s Team India will depart for Japan on September 18 and are scheduled to play a historic T20I match against hosts Japan on September 22 before beginning their captain on September 28.
Chakaravarthy had recently recovered from a hamstring injury that he suffered on the tour of England in JulyHe had to return mid-way through the T20I series against England and subsequently ruled out of T20I series against Zimbabwe.
“It is a fresh injuryMRI has revealed that it is a side strainHe is out of the series and looks unlikely for Asian Games,” a BCCI source was quoted as saying by PTI news agency.
The injury management at the Centre of Excellence has come under scanner of late with players getting injured frequently and Chakaravarthy is another example of that trend.
Ahead of the Afghanistan series, India pacer Harshit Rana did not recover in time for the Afghanistan series and Asian Games despite being in the original squad subject to fitnessYash Thakur was named his replacement.
Star pacer Jasprit Bumrah, all-rounders Nitish Reddy and Washington Sundar have also recently recovered from injuries.
Vipraj Nigam or Kuldeep Yadav can be called up for Asian Games 2026
The BCCI have submitted a long list of cricketers to the Olympics Council of Asia for approval ahead of the Asian GamesApart from Varun Chakravarthy, Axar Patel and Washington Sundar, Harsh Dubey, Shahbaz Ahmed, Vipraj Nigam and Kuldeep Yadav have been picked as the slow bowlers in the squad.
Out of the backups, Harsh Dubey and Shahbaz Ahmed are already ruled out due to injuries and with Axar Patel and Sundar already in the squad, Kuldeep Yadav can make a T20I comeback if Chakravarthy is indeed ruled out of the tournamentKuldeep recently picked a 10-wicket haul for Yorkshire in County Championships in England.
