War, Diplomacy and History: India meet Japan in Land of Rising Sun

SANO (JAPAN): Legend has it that on June 25, 1863, when the first ever documented cricket match was held on Japanese soil in the city of Yokohama, it was a ploy by local merchants to save themselves from an anticipated samurai attack.

They had sought help from the British merchant and Royal Navy sailors under the guise of a cricket match in which the fleet team played with "arms handy". The anticipated attack never took place but the match was duly completed, according to the archives of the Yokohoma Country and Athletic Club that was founded in 1868.

On September 22, 2026, when the Japanese national men's cricket team takes on India, the complete mismatch between the competing nations would be hidden under the veneer of diplomacy and commerce.

The match scheduled at Sano, 100 km from Tokyo, which is now deemed as "Japanese Cricket Capital", will be an experience of a lifetime for the 11 players, most of whom are second generation Japanese citizens of dual heritage.

Skipper Kendel Kadowaki-Fleming and his brother Alester Kadowaki-Fleming have Australian lineage, so does Declan Suzuki-McComb.

Then there is Ibrahim Takahashi, an off-spinner, whose father is from Islamabad and had once taken the wicket of former Pakistan batter Muhammed Wasim in a club game.

Japan Cricket Association's total spending on all forms of cricket isn't more than USD two million annually while India's T20 skipper Shreyas Iyer's 2026 IPL salary stood at USD 3.15 million.

The difference couldn't be starker as Japan get their much-awaited moment under the sun with the hope that the game's impact extends well beyond the field of play in a country that loves baseball.

The match was announced recently and is being accommodated ahead of India's Asian Games campaign in Aichi-Nagoya, launching celebrations of the 75 years of India-Japan diplomatic relations.

India are the reigning T20 World Cup champions while Japan are ranked 41st, making it a no contest on paper.

But beyond the statistics, the game presents an opportunity of a lifetime for Japanese cricketers to rub shoulders with the best in the business.

A typhoon threat looms large on the landmark game but even if a ball is not bowled, the scheduled fixture has already made an impact in a country where cricket is pushing to emerge from the margins and become mainstream like baseball.

"There's been an awful lot going on in the background of Japan cricket for many, many years, and it's great now that we are above sea level, I guess, and we're actually visible to a few more people," said Japanese Cricket Association COO Alan Curr said ahead of the game.

"A lot of the success has almost already happened. The fact that India has agreed to come, the fact that I'm sitting here talking to you guys, the fact that there's already a lot of Japanese media coming tomorrow to find out more about this game and about the sport -- I think success is already here," he added.

It also helps that that cricket is being played in the ongoing Asian Games as well, raising more awareness for the general public in Japan.

The match will be played at Sano International Cricket Ground, roughly 100km from the bustling city of Tokyo where the Indian team landed on Sunday.

The 2000-capacity ground, which is likely to accommodate a larger crowd in tomorrow' game, is also used for baseball.

Unlike many other non cricketing nations, majority of the cricketers in the Japan are native and the game's promoters are not relying on the South Asian diaspora to grow the game in the country.

Kendel Kadowaki-Fleming, Japan's leading run scorer in T20s, will lead the side in the milestone game on Tuesday.

As part of their Asian Games preparation, the side have opted not to include players who are eligible to play T20Is under ICC regulations but ineligible under Asian Games rules.

Kadowaki-Fleming has made it clear that his team is not here merely to turn up. They know the importance of this occasion and are itching to show their talent to the cricketing world.

"As exciting as the occasion will be of playing India, we're not there to just celebrate the occasion. We're there to show what we can do as a men's team," Kadowaki-Fleming said earlier this month.

For the Shreyas Iyer-led India, it would be good preparation ahead of their Asian Games campaign, which begins on September 28 in the quarterfinal stage against a yet-to-be-decided rival.

The focus will once again be on 15-year-old batting star Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, who is also the youngest athlete in India's 501-strong Games contingent.

Squads

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

India: Sanju Samson(w), Abhishek Sharma, Tilak Varma, Shreyas Iyer(c), Shivam Dube, Ishan Kishan, Axar Patel, Ravi Bishnoi, Yash Thakur, Jasprit Bumrah, Arshdeep Singh, Washington Sundar, Vipraj Nigam, Vaibhav Sooryavanshi

Starts 9.30 am IST.