🏏India tour of Japan 2026: One off T20I in Kanto on 22/09/2026🏏- Page 2

Kendel knows what it took to have India in Japan. "It's taken a massive effort from a lot of people involved to make it happen." Credit, of course, goes to the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) for accepting Japan's proposal. "Also to our leadership team here at the Japan Cricket Association (JCA), and in particular, the CEO," Kendel notes.

The Japanese are aware that India have very rarely played a bilateral match against an Associate nation before, and they want to make the best of their good fortune. It presents an 'extremely exciting opportunity' for the Japan players. The experience of playing against the reigning world champions and the ensuring attention that the match will bring to the sport across the country is enormous.

It's got the potential to accelerate the growth of cricket across the country," remarks Kendel. "There's going to be more people here than ever before for a cricket match. And clearly the best quality players that we've ever had here as well."

His side will rub shoulders with the likes of Jasprit Bumrah, Abhishek Sharma, Shreyas Iyer, the very best in the world currently. "It still does sound quite surreal to be hearing about them playing here in Japan." But the Japanese are not overawed by the might of the opposition. "I can't guarantee any outcome, but what I can guarantee is that we will try our best. We'll compete and hopefully we'll give it our best shot."

Historically, Japan have been a spin-heavy side. That is mainly because of the conditions that they often play in - not just in Japan, but in other countries, like PNG, Thailand and Oman. But they are known to punch above their weight. At the ICC Men's T20 World Cup Qualifier 2026, Japan delivered a landmark performance by defeating Kuwait by five wickets, demonstrating improved competitiveness against higher-ranked opposition.

As previously reported by Cricbuzz, the International Cricket Council (ICC) is excited about the September 22 encounter. "It's enormous, one of our aspirations as an international federation," says William Glenwright, ICC General Manager - Development. More than 1,000 bilateral games were played last year and over 860 so far this year. Yet the world body regards the game as particularly significant.

"Having a full member and the world champions playing any associate member is hugely important to us from a cricket perspective. And then there's the other element of that - which is what does it mean for the country of Japan and cricket's significance in Japan? And that's the ripple effect of a fixture like this. Because it reflects a growing confidence in the game and in the full members' belief in the abilities of our associate members to host full members in major international cricket," the ICC official tells this website.

Kendel is aware that, unlike in India, cricketers are not larger-than-life figures in Japan. The country's biggest sporting superstar is Shohei Ohtani, a baseball icon. "He's the Virat Kohli of baseball," Kendel informs us. "It's [baseball] definitely a sport that many of the supporters get behind in Japan."

But Kendel believes cricket, too, can rise up the popularity charts in Japan one day. "There's no reason why we can't aspire to become like that in cricket someday. We've got a long road ahead if we can try to replicate the full-member countries for sure," he signs off.

It is a landmark week for Japan in cricket. On Friday, their women's team faced India at the Asian Games and today, it is the men's team's turn to take on India in a historic one-off T20I at the Sano International Cricket Ground. This will be the first meeting between the two sides in international cricket, with the game being played as part of the Suzuki Cup to mark 75 years of diplomatic relations between India and Japan. More importantly for Japan, this is an opportunity to test themselves against the reigning T20 World Cup champions ahead of their own Asian Games campaign.

Time - 9:30 am?

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"Toss for the JPN v IND T20I has been delayed due to a wet outfield. An inspection will take place at 1:15 PM local time (9:45 AM IST)," post from BCCI on X.

13:15 Local Time, 04:15 GMT, 09:45 IST: The first inspection is complete, with the next inspection scheduled for 14:00 local time. The proceedings have been delayed further and the waiting game continues..

13:10 Local Time, 04:10 GMT, 09:40 IST: The players are out in the middle warming up, and the inspection will take place in 5 minutes. For now, the players are having a look at the playing surface. The stumps are in place and the conditions look bright and sunny.