India face Japan in Sano in the first men's international between the countries

India will meet Japan for the first time in men's international cricket when the sides play a one-off T20I at Sano on September 22

The match is at the Sano International Cricket Ground in Tochigi Prefecture on Tuesday, September 22, under the Suzuki Cup banner. The countries have never met in a men's international.

It is the opening event of Sport 75, a programme marking 75 years of diplomatic relations between the two countries. The fixture follows an agreement reached at a summit between Japanese prime minister Sanae Takaichi and Indian prime minister Narendra Modi to widen cooperation in sport.

India travel as the reigning ICC Men's T20 World Cup champions and the top-ranked side in the format. The game falls two days before the Asian Games cricket competition begins in Nagoya, for which the BCCI has named Shreyas Iyer to lead a full-strength squad with Tilak Varma as his deputy.

A first step against the Full Members

Japan captain Kendel Kadowaki-Fleming framed the fixture as an opening rather than a one-off. "Hopefully this is the first step in a long history of playing against and competing against Full-Member countries," he said.

He said the wider return would not be measured by the result. "Even if a small amount of the kids that are watching cricket on TV during that time then want to go and pick up a cricket bat or sign up with a cricket club in Japan and play for the first time, then I feel like that's a success in itself," he said.

Japan Cricket Association chief executive Naoki Miyaji called the visit a turning point for the governing body. "To be able to invite the reigning World Champions to the home of cricket in Japan is a landmark moment for our association," he said.

A squad picked with Nagoya in mind

Japan have named 15 players, the same group that will contest the Asian Games two days later. Players who meet ICC T20I eligibility criteria but fall outside the Asian Games rules were left out so the squads could match.

The squad is Kadowaki-Fleming, Charlie Hara-Hinze, Benjamin Ito-Davis, Alester Kadowaki-Fleming, Kohei Kubota, Jake Kusuda-Nairn, Wataru Miyauchi, Reo Sakurano-Thomas, Alex Shirai-Patmore, Shoma Sugaya-Slater, Declan Suzuki-McComb, Tsuyoshi Takada, Ibrahim Takahashi, Makoto Taniyama and Lachlan Yamamoto-Lake, with Miyauchi and Shirai-Patmore the two wicketkeepers.

Kusuda-Nairn, a spin-bowling all-rounder, is among the newer names. Takada returns to a Japan squad for the first time since 2013.

Taniyama's number 23

Makoto Taniyama, Japan's leading wicket-taker across competitions, wears the number 23 in honour of the Australian spinner Shane Warne, whose bowling he studied on YouTube.

The ground is in use this month for Japan's women's side, who host Malaysia in the third T20I of their series at Sano.

Second in the East Asia-Pacific

Japan finished second in the 2026 ICC Men's T20 World Cup East Asia-Pacific Qualifier, edged out by Papua New Guinea on net run rate despite beating them in their final group match.

Seventeen-year-old spin bowler Charlie Hara-Hinze expects that gap to narrow. "I can't see a reason why in 20-30 years, we can't be like Nepal or Afghanistan," he said.

New territory for the BCCI

BCCI honorary secretary Devajit Saikia presented the trip as part of the board's remit to widen the game's reach. "This is a significant moment for cricket, as it takes the Indian team to new territory and provides an opportunity to introduce the sport to a wider audience in Japan," he said.

The Japan Cricket Association sees the fixture as a platform for the sport at home, with the Asian Games following days later in Nagoya.

India's one-off T20I against Japan begins at Sano on September 22, two days before the Asian Games cricket competition starts in Nagoya.

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