Just weeks before India’s cricketers head to Japan for the 2026 Asian Games, the BCCI has stepped in to settle a row that blew up over their living arrangements.
The controversy started after photos went viral online showing twin-sharing rooms with two single beds, raising doubts about whether such spaces would be practical for athletes travelling with bulky cricket gear and luggage. In response, BCCI officials clarified that the cricketers won’t be housed in these shared rooms at all. Instead, separate accommodation has been arranged for them through a joint effort involving the Indian Olympic Association, the Asian Games Organising Committee, and the Japan Cricket Association.
Speaking at the send-off ceremony for the Indian contingent, a BCCI official explained that the team is accepting whatever accommodation the organisers provide, while keeping a close eye on the quality to ensure the players stay comfortable. He acknowledged the rooms wouldn’t be five-star but described them as decent and adequate.
Earlier, Japan Cricket Association CEO Naoki Alex Miyaji had defended the original setup, noting that athletes in several other sports were being housed in far more basic conditions, including a cruise ship and shipping-container hotels. Naoki Alex Miyaji had also mentioned that cricket teams were free to organise their own accommodation if they weren’t happy with what was on offer, an option that appears to have ultimately been exercised.
The BCCI official confirmed that they had reviewed photos and videos of the new accommodation and found it satisfactory. He explained that the alternative would have meant housing the players far away in Osaka or Tokyo, which wasn’t ideal. He pointed out that Nagoya itself doesn’t have many hotels, with both Tokyo and Osaka roughly ninety minutes away by bullet train. But since the spirit of the Asian Games is about all participating nations feeling like one big family, it didn’t sit right to have some teams staying in Tokyo while others were based in Osaka so it was decided that the Indian players would stay in Nagoya itself, close to the action.
Interestingly, the accommodation debate only gained traction after India and Pakistan’s cricket administrators reportedly flagged wider concerns, including the state of the playing field itself. According to the BCCI official, this was actually the bigger worry all along. He revealed that the real issue had been the ground, the pitch and the dressing rooms but these concerns have now been addressed, with the Asian Cricket Council sending a team to inspect the venue and coming away satisfied with the playing conditions.
With the accommodation question settled, focus now shifts to the cricket itself. India’s men’s team will fly out to Tokyo on September 20 and take the field for a landmark T20 clash against Japan on September 22.
