The Indian men's cricket team will hold a friendly T20 International match against Japan on September 22. This historic match will take place at the Sano International Cricket Stadium in Tochigi Prefecture. It will be the first international match for the Indian team against Japan.
Japan is an Associate Member of the International Cricket Council (ICC) and has not previously met with a full member team. Despite this, Japanese players possess some experience in T20 Internationals. Kandel Kadawaki-Fleming, who captains the Japanese team, is also Japan's top run-scorer in T20 Internationals.
Kandel Kadawaki-Fleming has played 55 T20I matches for Japan, scoring 1871 runs at an average of 38.18. During this period, he scored 2 centuries and 12 half-centuries. Among the players who have scored the most runs for Japan in T20 Internationals, Saboresh Ravichandran ranks second (997 runs), and Lachlan Yamamoto-Leck ranks third (825 runs).
In terms of bowling, Saboresh Ravichandran also leads among Japanese players in T20 Internationals, taking 63 wickets in 53 matches with an average of 11.76. Furthermore, Saboresh Ravichandran, who was born in Chennai, is not part of the squad for the Asian Games. The second wicket-taker in this category is off-spinner Ibrahim Takahashi, who took 48 wickets. Following him are Charlie Hara-Hinch (45 wickets) and Rio Sakurano-Thomas (45 wickets).
Japan has played a total of 61 T20 International matches, winning 41, losing 18. One match ended in a draw, and one had no result. Japan's best score in T20 Internationals was 258/0, achieved in February 2024 against China.
Japan's lowest score in T20 Internationals was recorded on October 11, 2022, against Indonesia, when the team was dismissed for a total of 79. Japan's biggest victory in T20 Internationals in terms of runs scored was against Mongolia on May 8, 2024, when Japan won by a margin of 205 runs, and the Mongolian team managed to score only 12 runs.
The Japanese team will also participate in the Asian Games, where it will compete in Group A alongside Afghanistan and Nepal. The host nation of Japan will start its tournament on September 24, facing Afghanistan, and then play Nepal on September 26. The Japan national team squad for the Asian Games has already been announced.
The Japan national team squad for the Asian Games includes: Kandel Kadawaki-Fleming (captain), Charlie Hara-Hinch, Benjamin Ito-Davis, Alester Kadawaki-Fleming, Kohei Kubota, Jack Kusuda-Nairan, Wataru Miauchi, Rio Sakurano-Thomas, Alex Shiraishi-Patmor, Shoma Sugaya-Slater, Declan Suzuki, Tsuyoshi Takada, Ibrahim Takahashi, Makoto Taniama, and Lachlan Yamamoto-Leck.