NEW DELHI, July 8: The 2006 Qatar Asian Games in Doha will host a record 40 disciplines, including cricket for the first time, in keeping with the sport's growing popularity in the continent.

The format of the cricket tournament is yet to be finalised but Randhir Singh, general secretary of the Olympic Council of Asia (OCA), told reporters on Thursday that a six-nation event had been approved in principle.

"Cricket is set to make its debut," Singh said. "Qatar will talk to the Asian Cricket Council (ACC) chief Jagmohan Dalmiya to draw out a final programme. We expect all the participating countries to send their best teams.

"Many countries, especially the West Asian ones, were keen that cricket be played at the Asian Games and the OCA accepted the proposal at its meeting held in Doha on July 1," Singh said.

The other new discipline added to the Dec 1-15 Games is chess. The last Games in Pusan, South Korea in 2002 had featured 38 sports. There are four Test-playing nations in Asia - India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh - and cricket is played in almost all Asian countries, including China who were recently admitted to the International Cricket Council (ICC).

Cricket, a non-Olympic sport, was introduced at the Commonwealth Games in Kuala Lumpur in 1998, but was discarded at the next edition in Manchester four years later due to the lukewarm response from the major cricketing nations.

Asian giants India and Pakistan will have to reschedule their Test commitments in December 2006 in order to send full-strength teams to the Asian Games. India are scheduled to tour South Africa at that time, while Pakistan will be hosting the West Indies. However, both Sri Lanka and Bangladesh will be free then, according to the ICC's 10-year Test schedule.

The United Arab Emirates and Hong Kong have qualified for the six-nation Asia Cup limited-overs tournament in Sri Lanka from July 16. Singh, meanwhile, said Guangzhao in China, the lone bidder for the 2010 Asiad, had been awarded the Games and New Delhi was a strong contender for the 2014 event.

The Indian capital was chosen last year to stage the 2010 Commonwealth Games and announced its decision earlier this year to bid for 2016 Olympics. "India is aiming to progress from the Commonwealth Games to the Asian Games to bringing the Olympics here for the first time in 2016," Singh said. Athens and Beijing will host the next Summer Olympics in 2004 and 2008. The 2012 hosts will be decided next year. -Agencies