India vs Japan T20I: Typhoon Threatens Historic Match

India will face Japan in a historic one-off T20 International at Sano International Cricket Ground in Tochigi on Tuesday. The match is part of the Suzuki Cup celebrations marking 75 years of India-Japan diplomatic relations under the ‘Sport 75’ initiative to strengthen sports ties.

This will be the first time the men’s national teams of India and Japan play an international match against each other. It will also mark India’s debut in Japan for an international cricket event.

India has named a 14-member squad, led by Shreyas Iyer. The team includes wicketkeepers Sanju Samson and Ishan Kishan, along with Jasprit Bumrah. Other players are Abhishek Sharma, Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, Tilak Varma, Shivam Dube, Axar Patel, Washington Sundar, Ravi Bishnoi, Arshdeep Singh, Yash Thakur, and Vipraj Nigam.

Varun Chakravarthy was ruled out due to injury and replaced by Nigam. Nitish Kumar Reddy, originally in the Asian Games squad, moved to India’s ODI squad against the West Indies.

Weather could affect the match in Sano on Tuesday. Typhoon Dujuan is causing heavy rain in eastern Japan, forcing India to cancel their training session on Monday. The typhoon brings strong winds and heavy rainfall to areas like Kanto-Koshin, where Sano is located.

The match’s timing is crucial as showers are expected later in the day. AccuWeather predicts a 49% chance of rain at 4 pm and 51% at 5 pm local time. The game starts at 1 pm.

Japan faces India, featuring established international players, for the first time against an ICC Full Member team. This match is part of Japan’s efforts to grow cricket domestically.

After this game, India shifts focus to the Asian Games, starting with a quarterfinal on September 28. Japan also competes in the men’s cricket event at the Asian Games, aiming to qualify for the quarterfinals from the preliminary round.