India and Japan will meet for the primary time in worldwide cricket after they face off in a males’s T20I on September 22.
The Japan Cricket Affiliation (JCA) and Board of Management for Cricket in India (BCCI) confirmed that the match shall be performed on the Sano Worldwide Cricket Floor in Tochigi Prefecture.
The competition will function preparation for each groups forward of the Asian Video games 2026, the place they’ll compete within the males’s cricket event.
Japan will start their marketing campaign within the group stage, whereas India have been handed a direct place within the quarter-finals.
India, who gained the ICC Males’s T20 World Cup earlier this 12 months, will use the match as an vital warm-up forward of their bid to defend the gold medal they gained within the males’s cricket competitors on the earlier Asian Video games.
For Japan, the fixture presents a uncommon alternative to check themselves in opposition to one of many world’s main cricket groups and acquire worthwhile expertise forward of the Asian Video games.
“The BCCI is delighted to be a part of this historic event because the Indian and Japanese males’s groups come collectively for a particular T20 Worldwide in Japan,” BCCI Secretary Devajit Saikia mentioned.
“This can be a important second for cricket, because it takes the Indian workforce to new territory and gives a possibility to introduce the game to a wider viewers in Japan and East Asia.”
JCA chief government Naoki Miyaji welcomed the chance to host the reigning world champions.
“To have the ability to invite the reigning World Champions to the house of cricket in Japan is a landmark second for our affiliation,” he mentioned.
The fixture is a part of cricket’s continued international growth, with the Asian Video games offering one other platform for the game because it builds in direction of its return to the Olympics.