India and Japan set for historic T20I clash ahead of Asian Games 2026 campaign

For the first time in the history of men's T20I cricket, India will face Japan, in a one-off clash on the latter's home turf. The Men in Blue will take the field against Japan in what will be a crucial test for the hosts while Team India's young brigade will eye a powerful showcase of their aggressive brand of cricket.

India will be walking into this clash on the back of a solid series win against Afghanistan. More importantly, they sealed the fray with a record-breaking win, underlining their mindset of going for absolute carnage on every chance that they get. Abhishek Sharma smashed a mind-boggling century and might once again be the talk of the town, although the Men in Blue may look to make a few changes to the XI.

To their credit, Japan have proven they are no pushovers with two wins from their last three T20Is - one each against Samoa and Papua New Guinea. The home team will pin its hopes on Kendel Kadowaki-Fleming with the bat while Ibrahim Takahashi’s haul of 13 wickets from the last nine games also makes him one of Japan’s key architects. Kadowaki-Fleming is also Japan’s skipper and was part of the highest-ever opening partnership in T20I cricket when he joined forces with Lachlan Yamamoto-Lake to rack up 258 runs .

Venue Watch:

Of course the details about the surface are lesser known but as things go, there is a heavy rain threat looming large. In fact, it bucketed down in Sano a day prior to the game and that washed away India’s training session. Apart from that, one can expect this to be a good contest for the batters with the bounce and carry being fairly true.

Match details:

Match: Japan vs India, One-off T20I

Venue: Sano International Cricket Ground, Sano

Date: 22nd September, 2026

Time: 9:30 AM IST

Head-to-head:

This is the first time that the two teams will face off in T20I.

Squads:

India:

Shreyas Iyer (C), Abhishek Sharma, Sanju Samson (WK), Ishan Kishan (WK), Shivam Dube, Tilak Varma (VC), Axar Patel, Washington Sundar, Ravi Bishnoi, Jasprit Bumrah, Arshdeep Singh, Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, Yash Thakur, Vipraj Nigam.

Japan:

Kendel Kadowaki-Fleming (c), Charlie Hara-Hinze, Benjamin Ito-Davis, Alester Kadowaki-Fleming, Kohei Kubota, Jake Kusuda-Nairn, Wataru Miyauchi (wk), Reo Sakurano-Thomas, Alex Shirai-Patmore (wk), Shoma Sugaya-Slater, Declan Suzuki-McComb, Tsuyoshi Takada, Ibrahim Takahashi, Makoto Taniyama, Lachlan Yamamoto-Lake