Pakistan booked their place in the Asian Games men’s cricket semi-final on Monday without a ball being bowled, after persistent rain washed out their quarter-final against Hong Kong, China at Korogi Sports Park in Nisshin, Japan. Under the tournament’s playing conditions, a knockout match that cannot be completed is awarded to the side ranked higher in the ICC T20I standings, and Pakistan, ranked 6th in the world, advanced automatically over Hong Kong, ranked 24th, according to ESPNcricinfo.
How Pakistan Advanced
The washout meant the toss itself never took place. Heavy rain lashed the venue from the morning, leaving umpires no window to even inspect the pitch, and officials abandoned the fixture outright. Pakistan’s side, led out by Sahibzada Farhan, will now have an extended break before their semi-final, scheduled for Thursday, October 1, at the same venue, against the winner of Tuesday’s quarter-final between Bangladesh and Malaysia.
Pakistan were not the only side to benefit from the ranking rule on Monday. Hours after the Hong Kong tie was called off, India’s quarter-final against Afghanistan at the same venue suffered an identical fate, with rain again preventing a ball being bowled. India, ranked No. 1 in the world, advanced over Afghanistan, ranked 10th, and will face the winner of Tuesday’s Sri Lanka-Nepal quarter-final in their own semi-final, also on Thursday, according to Telangana Today and Outlook India.
The Bracket So Far
| Quarter-Final | Date | Result | Semi-Final Opponent (Oct 1) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pakistan vs Hong Kong, China | Sep 28 | Washed out — Pakistan through on ranking | Winner: Bangladesh vs Malaysia |
| India vs Afghanistan | Sep 28 | Washed out — India through on ranking | Winner: Sri Lanka vs Nepal |
| Bangladesh vs Malaysia | Sep 29 | Still to be played | — |
| Sri Lanka vs Nepal | Sep 29 | Still to be played | — |
“Rain is there, but that is the reason we can’t give up, because we have decided that we are a bunch of professionals and all these hurdles will keep coming,” India’s T20I captain Shreyas Iyer said after his own side’s washout — a comment that captured the mood around a Games that has now lost two quarter-finals to the weather on the same day, per Telangana Today.
PakDaily had earlier previewed the tie after the two sides were drawn together in the last eight (see PakDaily’s preview of the Pakistan-Hong Kong quarter-final). Monday’s washout is only the latest instance of wet weather disrupting the men’s event at these Games; the gold and bronze medal matches remain scheduled for Saturday, October 3, at the same venue.
Our Opinion
A ranking-based tiebreaker is a sensible safety net for a multi-sport Games squeezed into a tight window, but it will not sit entirely comfortably with everyone watching — for a side like Hong Kong, which worked through a preliminary group to even reach the last eight, a monsoon washout that ends its tournament without a single ball bowled is a harsh way to go out, and the same applies in spirit to Afghanistan; organisers of future editions held in Japan’s autumn rainy season may want to look at reserve days or a shortened-format fallback so that weather, rather than the players, ends up deciding fewer outcomes than it has this week.
