The Asian Games is about to receive a substantial boost in viewership as South Asian cricket heavyweights India, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka enter the men's T20 leg of the continental competition.
The four teams have received entry directly into the quarter-final stage of the Games in Aichi, which begin on Monday.
Pakistan will take the field first at the Korogi Sports Park in the morning game (v Hong Kong, 9am local time, 4am UAE time). T20 world champions India will then play in the second quarter-final against Afghanistan.
The other two subcontinent sides will play their last-eight matches the following day.
At any other tournament, two-time world champions India would have been the clear favourites to win gold, as they did in the previous tournament in Hangzhou.
However, all predictions were thrown out of the window on Tuesday when hosts Japan came within two runs of defeating India in a rain-shortened T20 match - a glorified friendly ahead of the Asian Games.
However, Japan's spinners had India in all sorts of trouble in the five-overs-a-side match, restricting a full-strength Indian team to just 32-4. Japan were on track to complete a straightforward win, needing just eight runs in the final over.
However, the hosts froze on the big stage as spinner Axar Patel gave away just five runs. India were also helped by a controversial decision by the umpires to reverse a wide call and won by two runs, avoiding the biggest upset in cricket history. Japan were ranked 41st heading into the match.
That result will serve as a wake-up call for all teams competing at the Asian Games as the conditions are expected to be in favour of bowlers.
The pitch for the Asian Games in Nagoya has the same soil used at the surface in Sano that hosted the one-off Japan v India match. Spin bowlers had a field day as some of the best batters in Indian cricket barely managed to get the ball off the square, with just two boundaries hit in the innings. Non-traditional cricket venues very rarely have sporting surfaces as this requires regular cricket to be played on them for an extended period.
India, Pakistan and Bangladesh have picked largely first-choice squads and among them, the reigning champions have the added advantage of having survived a close call right before the knockout stage of the Asian Games.
Will we see Vaibhav Sooryavanshi v Ali Raza?
If India and Pakistan win their respective quarter-finals and advance, there is a chance the two arch rivals will face each other in a medal round.
Multi-nation tournaments are the only platform where India and Pakistan play each other in cricket nowadays, owing to a breakdown in political relations between the nations.
If India do face Pakistan, we could be in for a thrilling ride. Especially if teen batting sensation Vaibhav Sooryavanshi and young speedster Ali Raza end up in their teams' playing XI.
Both players emerged simultaneously in age-group cricket, and while Sooryavanshi smashed bowlers from across the world over the previous season, Pakistan quick Raza was one bowler he could not tame.
Raza dismissed Sooryavanshi on more than one occasion with his extreme pace and steep bounce, and both players will know exactly what to expect if they cross paths in Japan.
India had earlier successfully retained their women's T20 gold medal. Sri Lanka took home silver and Pakistan bronze.
Asian Games cricket schedule
Monday (Quarter-finals): Pakistan v Hong Kong (4am); India v Afghanistan (9am)
Tuesday (Quarter-finals): Sri Lanka v Nepal (4am); Bangladesh v Malaysia (9am)
Thursday: First semi-final (4am); Second semi-final (9am)
Saturday: Bronze medal match (4am); Gold medal match (9am)
