The match will be played at the Sano International Cricket Ground on September 22.
India skipper Shreyas Iyer expressed his absolute excitement upon landing in Japan ahead of their historic one-off T20I match, scheduled for September 22 at the Sano International Cricket Ground in Tochigi Prefecture.
The Men in Blue will play the fixture to launch the celebrations of the 75th anniversary of India-Japan diplomatic relations.
Upon his arrival, Shreyas noted that the hospitality from the host country has been fantastic and shared his appreciation for the incredible welcome the team has received.
“It’s beautiful. 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. It’s too early to talk about it but I have heard special things from people about Japan as a country and Tokyo as a city. So, looking forward to explore more,” Iyer said in a video shared by the BCCI on social media.
“It is going to be a thrilling and exciting match for us. This is the first time we would be playing Japan and don’t know much about conditions, the wicket but looking forward to have a great match,” he added.
The Indian team has arrived in Japan on the back of a 3-0 T20I series win over Afghanistan in New Delhi. Following the one-off match against Japan, the Shreyas Iyer-led will travel to Nagoya to begin their gold-medal defense at the 2026 Asian Games, starting from the quarterfinal stage on September 28.
India's squad for the Japan T20I and the Asian Games: Shreyas Iyer (C), Abhishek Sharma, Sanju Samson (WK), Ishan Kishan (WK), Shivam Dube, Tilak Varma (VC), Axar Patel, Washington Sundar, Ravi Bishnoi, Jasprit Bumrah, Arshdeep Singh, Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, Yash Thakur, Vipraj Nigam.