Ishan Kishan’s unbeaten 80 off 46 balls and Vaibhav Sooryavanshi’s 21-ball 38 on a turning pitch took India to 169 for seven against Sri Lanka in the second men’s cricket semifinal of the Asian Games in Japan on Thursday (October 1, 2026).

Considering the spin-friendly conditions and the stage, India decided to bring back Sooryavanshi into the playing eleven alongside Abhishek Sharma and Sanju Samson.

They left out left-arm pacer Arshdeep Singh with Jasprit Bumrah being the only fast bowling resource available to them.

Similar tactic was employed by a second string Sri Lanka, who tried to spin a web around the Indian batters after opting to bowl first and was largely successful.

If it weren’t for the ‘X’ factor of Sooryavanshi and Kishan, India would have ended up with a much lower total.

For a change, it was a sunny morning here as both teams took the field for the first time in the competition.

With the ball turning a fair bit in the powerplay, it was clear that the game would be dominated by the spinners. Only two overs of pace was used by the Sri Lankans.

Abhishek (7 off 3) perished after smashing a straight six off Sri Lanka captain Sahan Arachchige. The left-hander tried to make room but ended up offering a regulation catch at short third man.

Samson (7 off 9) was bamboozled after he exposed his stumps to a straighter one from ambidextrous spinner Tharindu Ratnayake, who was bowling left-arm spin to the right hander and off-spin to the left-handers.

Despite the fall of wickets, Sooryavanshi kept the pressure on the opposition with his trademark breathtaking strokeplay.

After three overs of spin, left-arm pacer Binura Fernando was brought in the fourth over and Sooryavanshi dented his confidence by picking his length ball over mid off before punishing a low full toss in the cover region for back-to-back fours.

In Tharindu’s third over, Sooryavanshi reverse swept him before picking him up for a six over long-on. Sooryavanshi’s stand out shot of the innings was a pull off Fernando, taking India to 58 for two in the first six overs.

The 15-year-old sensation departed soon after in identical fashion to Abhishek, caught at short third man off Arachchige.

The fall of captain Shreyas Iyer and Axar Patel in the middle overs slowed down the run rate before Kishan unleased himself on the spinners.

He resorted to hitting the spinners straight rather than going for horizontal shots with four of his sixes coming between long on and long off. He also hit four boundaries.

The Indian hockey teams’ experiment with a change in jersey colour has been partially rolled back and the players will now don the traditional blue at the upcoming Asian Games.

The saffron kit, which led to allegations of politicisation and internal tussle within Hockey India, will be the second option.

“The Indian Olympic Association (IOA) had asked us our preferred choice and HI has given blue as the first choice. Saffron will be the second colour,” HI president Dilip Tirkey said.

Meanwhile, almost two months after the sports ministry asked the Indian Olympic Association to conduct an independent inquiry into former captain Asunta Lakra’s allegations of harassment and intimidation against Hockey India secretary Bholanath Singh, a four-member committee has been constituted for the same.

The committee

The committee, headed by Justice (retd.) Deepa Sharma, also includes former India striker and 2002 Commonwealth Games gold medallist Mamta Kharab and former sprinter Vandana Rao.

Supreme Court advocate Sitwat Nabi is the fourth member of the committee which is expected to begin work later this week.

Jyothi Surekha has been a picture of consistency since picking up the bow and arrow. With 93 medals to her name – including five from the Asian Games – the 29-year-old is now preparing to add to that tally at this year’s edition of the quadrennial event in Japan.

Surekha emerged on top at the selection trials held at the Sports Authority of India’s National Centre of Excellence in Sonipat, Haryana, while several prominent names, including Atanu Das, Ojas Pravin Deotale and Deepika Kumari, failed to qualify.

The compound archer began her World Cup run with gold in the women’s team event in Mexico but a rare off day saw a quarterfinal exit in Shanghai. She admitted that the quick turnaround between Stage 2 of the Archery World Cup and the trials in Sonipat, in addition to challenging conditions made preparation difficult.

“There was a lot of heat. There wasn’t much wind initially, but by the round-robin stage, which is very important, it became very windy,” she told The Hindu.

While pleased with her selection, Surekha is equally excited about guiding a young compound women’s team featuring 21-year-old Chikitha Taniparthi and 17-year-old Prithika Pradeep at the Asian Games.

“I’m just two months away from turning 30,” she reiterated, with a laugh.

“Even though I was happy to qualify, I was a little surprised too because some big names missed out, not just in compound women, but overall. But what’s done is done. The team has been selected, and now we have to work together and make sure things go well for us.”

There were barely any celebrations at home in Vijayawada. “Everything was normal at home. Maybe we’ll celebrate after winning the Asian Games.”

For now, Surekha’s immediate focus remains on Stages 3 and 4 of the Archery World Cup in Antalya and Madrid, respectively.