India vs Pakistan Asian Games final: How both could win gold

India and Pakistan will battle for Asian Games cricket gold on Saturday. But here is the interesting part: both teams could actually end up winning gold.

The rivals will meet in the men’s cricket final at Korogi Sports Park in Nisshin, Japan, on October 3.

The match starts at 1.30pm local time, which is 10am in India, 9.30am in Pakistan and 8.30am in the UAE.

But there is one big concern.

Rain.

Bad weather has already caused plenty of problems during the cricket competition at this Asian Games.

India reached the semifinals without playing a single ball in their quarterfinal against Afghanistan after the match was washed out. India progressed because of their higher seeding.

Pakistan went through something similar. Their quarterfinal against Hong Kong, China was also washed out.

Even Pakistan’s semifinal against Bangladesh was affected by rain and reduced to 13 overs per side.

So what happens if rain ruins the India Pakistan final as well?

This is where it gets interesting.

There is no reserve day for the men’s cricket final.

If the final is abandoned and no result is possible, India and Pakistan will share the gold medal.

Yes, both teams will be Asian Games champions.

And that is very different from what happened at the previous Asian Games in Hangzhou.

India faced Afghanistan in the 2023 final, but rain prevented the match from being completed. India were awarded gold because they were the higher ranked team.

That will not happen this time.

If Saturday’s final is washed out without a result, both India and Pakistan will walk away with gold medals. India are the higher ranked team, but that will not matter this time. Unlike in 2023, the rules have changed and a washed out final will result in both teams sharing gold.

India are the defending champions and head into the final after beating Sri Lanka by 124 runs in the semifinal.

Pakistan, meanwhile, defeated Bangladesh by six wickets to reach their first Asian Games men’s cricket final.

There is another bit of history attached to Saturday’s clash.

This will be the first time India and Pakistan have faced each other in men’s cricket at the Asian Games.

So we could have a historic final with India or Pakistan taking the gold.

Or rain could give us something even more unusual: India and Pakistan sharing the top step of the podium as Asian Games champions.