Sano, Sep 21 (IANS) A one-off T20I against reigning two-time T20 world champions and the richest cricket country in the world, India, could certainly be the watershed moment that Japanese cricket would be looking for.
Having never played a senior international match against any full-member ICC nation, a one-off game against India at the Sano International Cricket Ground is not only a match but one that could spark interest for the sport more in the Land of the Rising Sun.
For Japan, the Suzuki Cup will be a chance to put their best foot forward and hope they can trouble the two-time world champions.
For India, the game stands more as a practice before the Asian Games than as proper competition, but they would still be aware that the fickleness of the T20I format leaves little room for error for even the sport’s giants, as was shown by a much superior side than Japan – Ireland – when India went to the Irish country after winning the T20 World Cup earlier this year and were blanked 0-2.
The Men in Blue have all the bigwigs going into the Asian Games, where they will be fighting to defend their gold medal, as a few first-choice ODI players will also be missing the 50-over series against the West Indies at home, which runs simultaneously with the Asiad.
The same squad will be playing against Japan for the one-off T20I that marks the celebrations of 75 years of the diplomatic relations between the two nations.
The likes of Sanju Samson, Abhishek Sharma, Shreyas Iyer, Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, Jasprit Bumrah and Axar Patel headline the Indian squad, and most of them are also set to play if India field their first-choice playing XI.
Eyes will also be on whether India give Sooryavanshi a chance after benching him for the whole home three-match T20I series against Afghanistan, where Sanju Samson performed well with two half-centuries, while Abhishek Sharma kept setting the stage on fire.
There will also be an additional interest in seeing whether Jasprit Bumrah is made to ease his way back into the international circuit in this game after his impact injury absence since July.
For Japan, they would hope their captain Kendel Kadowaki-Fleming, who is also their highest T20I run-scorer, finds some runs against the Indian big wigs. All-rounder Charlie Hara-Hinze is their third-highest wicket-taker, and their second most-prolific wicket-taker, Ibrahim Takahashi, is also in the squad.
Beyond the cricket boundaries, the Suzuki Cup serves as the first step of ‘Sport 75’, an initiative aimed at promoting cooperation between the two nations and celebrating 75 years of diplomatic relations between them.
When and where to watch?
The match will be played at the Sano International Cricket Ground.
The match will begin at 1 PM local time, which will be 9:30 AM IST. Fans in India can watch the action live on the Star Sports Network. The live streaming of the game will be available on the FanCode app and website.
–IANS
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