The Sano International Cricket Ground in Santo on Tuesday will witness history as world no.2 India are set to take on Japan in a first-ever men’s T20I between the two nations in the Suzuki Cup. The one-off bilateral T20I is played just a couple a days before the Asian Games 2026 men’s cricket competition which gets underway on September 24 in Nisshin.
The occasion will see the reigning T20 World Cup winners take centre stage in Japan as they build up to a blockbuster home season. The contest will be a massive opportunity for Japan and its players as they share the field with one of the top T20 sides in the world.
For the Men in Blue, its an opportunity to create a awareness about the game in this part of the world, which still is best known for baseball, sumo and other Olympic sports. Its a great occasion for the Indian diaspora in Japan to interact with the likes of captain Shreyas Iyer, Abhishek Sharma, Sanju Samson, Jasprit Bumrah and Ishan Kishan among others.
Why India are playing Japan?
Usually, a team like India, playing 41st-ranked, it does take one by surprise. The India vs Japan T20I will be the first step of “Sport 75”, an initiative that stems from an agreement reached during a summit between Japanese PM Sanae Takaichi and Indian PM Narendra Modi and aims to promote human exchanges and cooperation between India and Japan in the field of sports.
With India travelling to Japan for the Asian Games 2026, it was easy for te Japan Cricket Association to host the Men in Blue for this historic T20I.
Where to watch India vs Japan one-off T20I?
Star Sports Network is the official broadcaster of the Suzuki Cup between India an Japan. The India vs Japan one-off T20I will be telecast live on Star Sports 1 and Star Sports 1 Hindi from 9:30 AM IST on September 22. Live streaming of India vs Japan one-off T20I will be available on FanCode.
India vs Japan full squads
Japan: Kendel Kadowaki-Fleming, Charlie Hara-Hinze, Benjamin Gou-Ito Davis, Kohei Kubota, Wataru Miyauchi, Reo Sakurano-Thomas, Declan Suzuki-McComb, Shoma Sugaya-Slater, Alexander Shirai-Patmore, Lachlan Yamamoto-Lake, Makoto Taniyama, Ibrahim Takahashi, Tsuyoshi Takada, Jake Kusuda-Nairn, Alester Kadowaki-Fleming
India: Shreyas Iyer (captain), Abhishek Sharma, Sanju Samson (wicket-keeper), Ishan Kishan (wicket-keeper), Shivam Dube, Tilak Varma (vice-captain), Axar Patel, Washington Sundar, Ravi Bishnoi, Jasprit Bumrah, Arshdeep Singh, Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, Yash Thakur, Vipraj Nigam.
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