India vs Japan T20 LIVE Cricket Score: IND will take on JAP in Sano. India beat Japan by two runs. Earlier, Shreyas Iyer won the toss and opted to bat first against Kendel Fleming’s Japan in the only T20I at the Sano International Cricket Ground in Sano, Kanto, on Tuesday. While the Men in Blue want to win, they will also keep an eye on the upcoming Asian Games; this match is a good chance to get used to conditions in Japan.
India vs Japan T20 live scorecard: Watch here
India has picked its full-strength squad for the game. Sanju Samson, who returned to the side during the series against Afghanistan, has scored back-to-back half-centuries. His partner, Abhishek Sharma, also played a couple of blistering knocks during that series in New Delhi.
India vs Sri Lanka Women’s Asia Cup gold medal match: Watch here
From a bowling perspective, Jasprit Bumrah has also returned to the side after an injury layoff and looks as pristine as ever. The game today and the Asian Games to follow will give Ravi Bishnoi a good opportunity to prove himself as an ideal number 2 if and when needed, when Varun Chakaravarthy is unavailable.
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Well, India has got away here; somehow they managed to pull this game out. In the final moments, when Japan had the game in hand, they sort of crumbled under pressure here. Although it was just a 10-over game, it was a decent one. The crowd would want the games coming up in the Asian Games to be 40-overs affairs instead of these. That's it from us. Do join us for the next Indian game.
Well, India has managed to take the wicket of Ibrahim Takahashi here. It is Washington Sundar who is the wicket-taker. Japan are maintaining the run rate needed; it is just about building that small partnership to get across the line. It is still Japan's game to lose from here on.
Well, that is a poor start for Japan in the chase. These are not too many runs to get, but they have already lost a wicket: Yamamoto tried to take the extra run, and Ishan Kishan from the boundary managed to get the direct hit away. It is about a run-a-ball chase and all Japan has to do is keep their nerve.
India (Playing XI): Sanju Samson(w), Abhishek Sharma, Ishan Kishan, Shreyas Iyer(c), Tilak Varma, Shivam Dube, Axar Patel, Washington Sundar, Yash Thakur, Ravi Bishnoi, Arshdeep Singh
Japan (Playing XI): Lachlan Yamamoto-Lake, Reo Sakurano-Thomas, Kendel Kadowaki-Fleming(c), Benjamin Ito-Davis, Wataru Miyauchi, Alexander Shirai-Patmore(w), Charlie Hara-Hinze, Ibrahim Takahashi, Declan Suzuki-McComb, Makoto Taniyama, Shoma Sugaya-Slater
Well, India only managed to get 32 runs. They kept losing wickets through those five overs; it is only the fourth over in which they have not lost a wicket. The loss of wickets has put on breaks and has not let the visitors get away. Superb bowling from Japan; regardless of how well India bowl, this score should be chasable.
Well, make it what you will. India have lost two more wickets since our last update: it is Sanju Samson and Ishan Kishan; both have fallen. The former was picked up by Ibrahim, and the latter was gotten by Benjamin. India are trying to get the shots away but are unable seems like they are not picking up the pace of the surface and the Japanese bowlers yet.
Well, left-arm spinner Charlie has probably had his career-defining moment: he picked up the wicket of Abhishek Sharma, who tried a reverse-ramped shot of sorts against the left-arm spinner, and the ball went high in the air, and the fine-leg fielder ran well and completed the catch. Japan have their first wicket here in Sano.
The national anthems are done, although it is not a big grown the crowd is buzzing and cheerful here at the stadium. India is going to bat first. Since it is just a five-over-per-side game, we might see the visitors come all guns blazing. As for Japan, it is all about absorbing the skills that Indian players have and trying to put theirs to the test.
We are all set for the toss. Kendel is wearing his playing jersey and is near the pitch. The toss is scheduled at 15:30 local (12:00 IST) and the game will start at 16:00 local (12:30 IST). Now Shreyas walks out in his blue India jersey. It is going to be a 5-over per side game.
We probably would have bowled, just to give the crowd an opportunity to see some of the best players in the world go at it here. But yeah, I was happy either way. [How are the nerves and how are the boys feeling?] Yeah, it's just pure excitement, I think. It's starting to sink in now. You know, we've tossed, we're ready to play. But yeah, it's an amazing opportunity for the players and the broader cricket community. So hopefully we can put on a show. [What do you want to bring to the table from a Japanese point of view?] Yeah, obviously there's quite a few Indian supporters that have come out, but the more people that watch cricket in Japan, the better. So we're very grateful for everyone that's come out here and for everyone that's made the game possible. There are a lot of people working through the night, volunteers, our team that was here all through the night as well. And so we're extremely grateful to everyone that's made this game happen, the BCCI, the JCA, our sponsors, Suzuki and as I said, we're just excited to rip in now. [How good is this test for the Asian Games for you?] Yeah, it's amazing. The reigning world champions to come here to Sano, we wouldn't have believed it if you said that a few years ago to us. And then to play against another full member next week is another wonderful opportunity for our men's team. But at this stage, we've got our hands full, so we're fully focused on this game.
We want to bat first. It's a big occasion, and we know the friendship you mentioned, 75 years of friendship. So it's going to be an exciting one, and we wanted to explore the conditions as well. I never envisioned that I would be coming to Japan and captaining one day. I know the baseball is quite big over here, but today, yeah, I'm standing right here. The crowd is decent, there are a lot of supporters, so it's important that we give them something back, and also the crowd watching us from back home. It's important that this match happened, and it's happening today. So looking forward for an exciting one. [What are the things you just need to crease out ahead of that Asian Games campaign?] It's important that we know the conditions and we are aware of what's happening around us. We know that this is actually going to be the conditions that are going to be offered in the Asian Games as well. We don't know how the pitches are over there, but definitely this game, this particular game, is going to be of a great practice for us heading into that, and yeah, just waiting for that moment to arrive.
Lachlan Yamamoto-Lake, Reo Sakurano-Thomas, Kendel Kadowaki-Fleming(c), Benjamin Ito-Davis, Wataru Miyauchi, Alexander Shirai-Patmore(w), Charlie Hara-Hinze, Ibrahim Takahashi, Declan Suzuki-McComb, Makoto Taniyama, Shoma Sugaya-Slater
Shreyas Iyer wins toss and opts to bat first vs JAP in Sano
We are all set for the toss. Kendel is wearing his playing jersey and is near the pitch. The toss is scheduled at 15:30 local (12:00 IST) and the game will start at 16:00 local (12:30 IST). Now Shreyas walks out in his blue India jersey. It is going to be a 5-over per side game.
Wataru Miyauchi, Lachlan Yamamoto-Lake, Kendel Fleming (C), Benjamin Ito, Ibrahim Takahashi, Alester Fleming, Declan Suzuki, Reo Sakurano, Makoto Taniyama, Kohei Kubota, Charlie Hara-Hinze
Abhishek Sharma, Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, Ishan Kishan (WK), Shreyas Iyer (C), Tilak Varma, Shivam Dube, Axar Patel, Washington Sundar, Ravi Bishnoi, Arshdeep Singh, Jasprit Bumrah
Next inspection is at 11:45 AM IST
A lot of our players work full-time or part-time, or are students, and cricket is separate to that. If you have a full-time job, you work your training and playing commitments around it, and hopefully you have an understanding employer. At best, players receive an allowance when they travel on tour, and a couple of meals. We try to cover all the costs at tournaments so players aren’t out of pocket.
Another problem is distance. A lot of our players travel long distances to reach national team grounds. I’m in Sano right now, which is a bit more than an hour north of Tokyo. It’s a smallish town, and where we have access to land, we can develop cricket grounds. Not just national players but club cricketers may travel at least an hour and a half to a game or even a training session.
Honestly, when we were told that we might get to play against India, I wasn’t sure it was going to eventuate, but it is happening now. Credit to the Indian team for agreeing to play. Not every team would. I get a sense from India that they’re not lowering themselves by playing Japan, but trying to lift everyone else up to make cricket a global sport. I’ve sensed a lot of positivity from the Indian coaches and team managers I’ve spoken to, and I’m really looking forward to it.
It’s still hard to compete against established sports in Japan. You’d think of baseball and now soccer as the two biggest, and a few other sports are more developed than cricket. We have to offer something pretty good. Cricket and baseball are both bat-and-ball sports, but baseball at junior level in Japan can be quite rigid. We try to provide a cricketing experience that’s more fun, which I think we can do. But kids have so many options these days, and cricket is just one of them. It’s a struggle and something we’ve worked very hard at for a long time. To be really successful, we’d want thousands and thousands of kids playing cricket all day, every day, and we don’t quite have that yet.
So, our cricketers fall into three categories. Firstly, players who have two Japanese parents, who grew up in Japan and came through the Japanese junior system. But more commonly, players who have one Japanese parent and one from another country, that is a cricketing country, like a New Zealand, an Australia or a Pakistan. The third category is the expats.
Well, we have a little more bad news here: the game inspection is delayed to 10:30 AM IST.
It has improved exponentially. We now have four divisions of 40-over cricket and about 85 senior men’s T20 teams playing in the Japan Cup T20 and a few other tournaments and leagues. The club scene is pretty well established now. There are some big clubs in Tokyo that you’d probably call Indian clubs, because most of the players are Indian men who moved to Japan for work but also love their club cricket. Some of those clubs have six or seven senior men’s teams, plus under-19 and under-15 teams and even women’s teams.
I spent four years here, 2004 to 2008. I was working in Australia at the time and decided to do something completely different. There was a high demand for teaching roles in Japan back then, so I did a bit of that. There was a lot of exchange between Australia and Japan at that time, with many Australians visiting, and I was one of them. I got some insight into the culture and a bit of the language. Around then I also got involved in club cricket in Japan, which was at a very basic level. One of the first things I did in 2004 was join a cricket club, the Chiba Sharks.
I’m from Melbourne, where I played a lot of club cricket. I joined the Japan Cricket Association in 2014, but I was already familiar with Japanese culture, a bit of the language and the Japan cricket scene before that.
Japan Cricket is a very small operation compared to some other countries, such as India, so you end up filling a lot of different roles. I’ve done a lot over that journey: not just coaching but community cricket, trying to grow the game, and managing domestic leagues and tournaments. I’ve floated through a few coaching roles, including women’s coach and under-19 coach. I took a team to the 2020 Under-19 World Cup, where we played India and got soundly beaten.
Toss for the T20I has been delayed due to a wet outfield. An inspection will take place at 1:15 PM local time (9:45 AM IST).
"It's beautiful. I mean, the time we landed, we saw the people, very cordial, generous and helpful in nature, which we see it back at home as well. The hospitality is brilliant and, yeah, I mean, it's too early to talk about it, but I'm sure that I've heard special things from people about Japan as a country and Tokyo as a city as well. So looking forward to explore more," he said.
"I never thought about it. But yes, I mean, cricket is picking up in every country now. And all the teams are becoming dominant in their own ways. So I'm sure this would be an exciting match as well tomorrow," he said.
"It's completely different from what we've been used to doing in terms of going to Australia, England, New Zealand. It's our very first time, and the culture and the people are very different in terms of how they are, in terms of discipline. So I am someone who loves to embrace new culture and get used to the vibe and the accommodation as quickly as possible. So this is a new challenge for us and definitely looking forward to it," he said.
"I saw a little bit of reels going here and there. But yes, we will be doing our studies and knowing about the players more. And super excited for the game tomorrow. Hopefully it doesn't rain, and all the viewers and the spectators who would be coming to the stadium will get a nice competitive game," he said at a press conference on Monday.
“And if some of the players who are playing for Japan and in the Japan Premier League go on to play for the IPL, it will only be great for all of us. And yes, I mean, I’ll make sure I tell my teammates as well to keep a track on all the players over here,” Sundar said.
“Obviously, it’s a great thing that cricket is played in Japan, and obviously you guys are playing a franchise league as well in Japan. It’s only gonna reach a lot more people across the world. And yes, I’m not too sure when it happens, or when is the time in the year it happens, but yes, we will make sure we have a track of this league.”
“And we feel if we can play to our strengths and potential, we’ve always been unstoppable and we’ve been extremely strong, especially in this format. So, we’re just looking forward to prepare over here in Tokyo and be, you know, really prepared by the time we go to the Asian Games and have a great set of games over there and eventually win the World Cup,” the all-rounder said.
“So, you know, obviously looking forward to play a lot of games here and understand the conditions, what the conditions are like here, and have a great experience in Japan. Obviously, playing a big tournament like Asian Games, it’s just a great blessing for all of us to be here, and if we could play some good cricket and win the gold medal as well, I think we would all carry all the memories through the tour and obviously the gold medal for a very, very long time,” he said.
“I mean, some of my friends have already come over here, and they’ve always told me that you can expect Japan to be, when you experience Japan, you can expect it to be at least 10-15 years ahead of time. And yes, I mean, we’ve not had much time to go out yet, but it just looks really beautiful. The facilities are amazing, especially this hotel and around the hotel, everything is so clean.”
“He’s just extremely skillful. And obviously, he’s got a great head as well. He understands his own game and also understands how to win battles against different oppositions and different conditions as well. He’s extremely smart. And being really smart, along with the kind of skill sets that he’s got, is obviously going to be a dangerous combo. And he’s already shown us what he’s capable of. And obviously, we can all expect him to win a lot of games for our country,” Sundar said in a press conference on Monday.
Wataru Miyauchi, Lachlan Yamamoto-Lake, Kendel Fleming (C), Benjamin Ito, Ibrahim Takahashi, Alester Fleming, Declan Suzuki, Reo Sakurano, Makoto Taniyama, Kohei Kubota, Charlie Hara-Hinze
Abhishek Sharma, Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, Ishan Kishan (WK), Shreyas Iyer (C), Tilak Varma, Shivam Dube, Axar Patel, Washington Sundar, Ravi Bishnoi, Arshdeep Singh, Jasprit Bumrah.
Hello and welcome to our live blog of India taking on Japan in the only T20I in Sano on Tuesday. It will be a good opportunity for the Japanese to test their skills against the best in cricket and see where they stand. For India under Shreyas Iyer, there are no easy games at this level, as the Ireland series would have reminded them that they would need to be professional and clinical in the match. Do stay with us to get all the live updates from the game.
Around 1996, Tayyab Rabbani traveled over 6,000 kilometers to Japan to see Mount Fuji. During his trip, he met Tomoko Takahashi, a nutrition student and private tutor. The two bonded deeply over their shared love for global exploration and hospitality, ultimately falling in love. (Read more from Shuvaditya Bose)
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