India will play Japan in an one-off T20I on September 22 in Sano.
Team India will play Japan for the first time ever in international cricket, in a one-off T20I game, on September 22 at the Sano International Cricket Ground. This game will be played before the Asian Games 2026 men’s cricket event begins for India on September 28.
And Japan’s Bihar-born cricketer Abhishek Anand is looking forward to this game and wants a special meeting with his fellow Bihari cricketers, Ishan Kishan and Vaibhav Sooryavanshi.
Abhishek, who relocated from India to Japan due to his passion for the game, stated that Sooryavanshi is now his favorite player and that he would like to meet him and Ishan if the opportunity arises. He would still be there with the team despite not being included in the roster for the Asian Games and India match.
"Currently, everyone's favorite is Vaibhav Sooryavanshi. But yeah, all the players in the Indian team are equally good. Of course, I want to meet my Bihari brothers, Ishan Kishan and Sooryavanshi,” Anand told IANS.
Abhishek further stated that he is looking forward to seeing Sooryavanshi and the Indian team in Sano and then in Nisshin for the Asian Games 2026.
"We are eagerly waiting to host the Indian team. We are eagerly waiting for this match. And (I hope) the India-Japan bond should stay strong so that we can do well in the future," Abhishek said.
His love for cricket brought him from India to Japan; while studying in college, he received a placement offer from Accenture Japan.
"So, the journey in Japan is quite unbelievable. I never thought that I would play in the Japan team. We were getting placements in our college. Japanese companies came to our college. We never thought that we would go for an overseas placement. I just applied and tried to get in touch about an interview to see what an interview abroad was like. So, I sat for the interview with Accenture Japan.
And then I got selected for Accenture Japan. After that, I was given 2 hours to decide whether to accept this offer. So, I was thinking that I didn't have any plans to go abroad. I wanted to stay in India and continue my passion for cricket as well as my job. So, during those 2 hours, I thought a lot about what to do and whether I should go to Japan or not,” Abhishek added.
"Then, I thought of searching for some cricket facts in Japan. So, fortunately, that year the Japanese team qualified for the East Asia-Pacific World Cup qualifier. I felt that there was hope for cricket in Japan as well. So, after seeing all this news, I thought about going to Japan to explore the opportunity there. So, after 2 hours of research, I accepted the offer and came to Japan," he added.
He moved to Japan, joining the Tokyo Falcon Cricket Club. Here, he performed well in the first three years and was thus selected for the Japanese national cricket team.
(IANS inputs)