India has officially established itself as a white-ball cricket superpower, according to Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) secretary Devajit Saikia. His comments followed a historic milestone at the 2026 Asian Games in Nagoya, Japan, where the Indian men's cricket team secured the gold medal by defeating Pakistan by 19 runs in the final on Saturday (October 3).
The victory completed a double gold sweep for Indian cricket at the Games, coming shortly after the women's national team defeated Sri Lanka by 147 runs to claim their own top podium finish.
Highlighting the strength of the nation's reserve bench, Saikia noted that India managed to field a championship-winning squad at the Asian Games even while another primary team was actively playing a simultaneous bilateral ODI series against the West Indies.
"Very wonderful. India has now become a superpower in world white-ball cricket. We are winning every tournament. I think at the same time, our team played in ODIs against the West Indies, and today, here in the Asian Games as well. This shows how strong our reserve bench is right now in white-ball cricket," Saikia told ANI.
"All the players deserve full credit, and all the support staff deserve full credit for the victory. It has made the whole country very proud," he added.
Apart from the Asian level prizes, Team India currently hold the ICC Champions Trophy and the T20 World Cup title in men's cricket and the ICC U19 World Cup and ICC Women's U19 T20 World Cup in age-group cricket. In women's cricket, India clinched their historic ICC Women's World Cup title win last year.
In the gold medal match against Pakistan at Korogi Sports Park, India posted a formidable 211/6 after opting to bat first, driven by an explosive 61 off 28 balls from Abhishek Sharma and an unbeaten 51 off 22 balls by Tilak Varma.
Despite a valiant, solo rescue act from Hasan Nawaz—who smashed 96 off 51 balls—the Indian bowling unit held their nerve to restrict Pakistan to 192/6. India's spin duo of Axar Patel (2-29) and Washington Sundar (2-29) strangled Pakistan's middle order, while Shivam Dube closed out the match by dismissing Nawaz on the final ball.
