BCCI books its own Nagoya hotel as kit delays shadow India's Asian Games departure

India's men's cricketers fly to Japan in the early hours of Sunday with a handful of Asian Games kits still undelivered and the BCCI paying for a hotel of its own in Nagoya

The squad led by Shreyas Iyer leaves New Delhi in the early hours of Sunday for the 2026 Asian Games, and it does so with two logistical problems the board has spent the past few days working around.

The first is clothing. Repeated exchanges between the BCCI, the Indian Olympic Association and JSW Inspire, the IOA's appointed kit supplier, have been needed over the sizing of the players' Games apparel, and a small number of cricketers were still waiting for correctly sized kit as the departure approached.

The second is where the team sleeps. Rather than take the rooms allotted through the Games organisers in Nagoya, the BCCI has arranged separate accommodation for the men's squad at its own initiative.

A sizing problem, mostly cleared

"There was a sizing issue in kits of cricketers, majority of them have been rectified. There are a few left and they will be delivered to the team shortly," an IOA source told PTI.

Neither the board nor JSW Inspire has issued a public statement on the delays, with the account of them coming from officials briefing PTI.

The board went back to the supplier more than once over the discrepancies, and by the eve of the flight most of the measurements had been corrected. The outstanding sets are expected to reach the players rather than hold up the departure.

Two kits for two competitions

Part of the complication is that the squad needs two different sets of clothing in Japan, for two separate assignments in the same trip.

India play a one-off T20I against Japan on September 22, for which the players wear their standard India colours. The Asian Games competition, which begins on September 28 for India, requires the official Games apparel issued through the IOA.

Rooms without space for the kit bags

The accommodation problem is the more unusual of the two. The rooms allotted to the men's team through the organisers were judged unsuitable, with people familiar with the arrangements saying they did not have the space to store cricket kit bags.

Large hotels are not plentiful in the area, and the board settled its alternative only shortly before the team was due to fly.

The organisers have spread athletes across hotels, cruise ships and container accommodation rather than housing them in a single Games Village, and Indian competitors in other sports have already reported delays in being allotted rooms.

The women's team is not affected

India's women, who travelled earlier and are already competing, have raised no similar complaint and continue to stay in the lodging arranged through the IOA.

They play Bangladesh in the second semi-final at Korogi Sports Park on Sunday, having beaten Japan to reach the last four.

Harmanpreet Kaur's side need one more win to reach the gold medal match, and the losing semi-finalists play off for bronze.

A bye into the quarter-finals

India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh were seeded straight into the men's quarter-finals as the four highest-ranked sides on the ICC Men's T20I rankings as they stood on July 23, 2026, so none of them plays in the group stage from September 24 to 26.

The quarter-finals are on September 28 and 29, the semi-finals on October 1, and the bronze and gold medal matches on October 3, all of them at Korogi Sports Park in Nisshin.

India's quarter-final opponent comes out of the group stage and will not be settled until those matches finish on September 26.

That leaves India six days between the T20I against Japan and their first match of the tournament proper, and a little under a fortnight in Japan before the medals are decided.

India's Asian Games campaign begins with a quarter-final at Korogi Sports Park on September 28.

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