On their way to England for the 1930 Ashes, Australia stopped in Ceylon, where touring teams traditionally played a day of cricket. Don Bradman was part of that Australian side and played in Ceylon, decades before Sri Lanka became an international cricketing nation. India’s current detour to the Japanese town of Sano provides a fascinating modern parallel.
The world champions will now face Japan, a developing cricket nation that has made significant progress this year. Japan defeated Papua New Guinea in the Super Six stage of the T20 World Cup East Asia-Pacific Qualifiers, a notable result against a side with two T20 World Cup appearances.
Japan captain Kendel Kadowaki-Fleming will be central to the occasion. The 30-year-old, who has a Japanese mother and Australian father, is Japan’s leading run-scorer in international cricket. Alongside Lachlan Yamamoto-Lake, he also holds the record for the highest partnership for any wicket in a T20 match, after the pair took Japan to 258 without loss against China in 2024.
For Kadowaki-Fleming and his teammates, facing India means encountering players such as Jasprit Bumrah, who is looking for more game time as India carefully manages his workload. The fixture also marks VVS Laxman’s return as India head coach after he used four specialist bowlers in Zimbabwe.
India’s proposed XI features Abhishek Sharma, Sanju Samson, Ishan Kishan, Shreyas Iyer, Tilak Varma, Axar Patel, Shivam Dube, Yash Thakur, Ravi Bishnoi, Arshdeep Singh and Bumrah.
Rain, however, threatens to spoil the occasion. Heavy showers cancelled India’s training session, while Japan’s September 20 match against Hong Kong was abandoned. Japan will hope the weather clears for a historic meeting with the world champions.
