India to face Japan in a T20I on September 22 | Cricket News
3 min readUpdated: Sep 4, 2026 06:01 PM IST
India will face Japan in a T20I on September 22, 2026, the Board of Control for Cricket in India and the Japan Cricket Association said in a joint statement on Friday. The match will be played for the Suzuki Cup at the Sano International Cricket Ground in Tochigi Prefecture and will start at 9.30am IST.
The two boards stated that the match will be the first step of “Sport 75”, an initiative that stems from an agreement reached during a summit between Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and aims to promote human exchanges and cooperation between India and Japan in the field of sports, “taking note of India’s ambition to host the Olympic and Paralympic Games in 2036”.
𝗛𝗶𝘀𝘁𝗼𝗿𝘆 𝗜𝗻 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗠𝗮𝗸𝗶𝗻𝗴!
India🇮🇳 🤝 Japan🇯🇵#TeamIndia set to play a historic T20I against Japan to launch the celebrations of the 7️⃣5️⃣th Anniversary of India-Japan Diplomatic Relations. 👏👏@CricketJapan
All The Details 🔽https://t.co/vxdhuT1tgp pic.twitter.com/DQmPncvefH
— BCCI (@BCCI) September 4, 2026
This would be the first time that the two countries will face each other in senior international cricket. While the bilateral one-off T20I will be between the two men’s teams, the women’s teams face each other in the 2026 Asian Games in the quarterfinals on September 18. The men’s teams could face each other again during the Asiad if Japan to get through the preliminary stage. Those matches will be played at the Korogi Sports Park in Nisshin, a city in the Aichi Prefecture which is situated to the south of Tochigi Prefecture.
“The BCCI is delighted to be part of this historic occasion as the Indian and Japanese men’s teams come together for a special T20 International in Japan. This is a significant moment for cricket, as it takes the Indian team to new territory and provides an opportunity to introduce the sport to a wider audience in Japan and East Asia,” said BCCI Secretary Devajit Saikia.
“The BCCI believes that the growth of cricket must extend beyond its traditional territories, and as the world’s largest cricket board, we recognise our responsibility to contribute to that growth. The BCCI will work closely with the JCA to further strengthen cricket in Japan and to build on this relationship in the years ahead.”
“To be able to invite the reigning World Champions to then home of cricket in Japan is a landmark moment for our association. We thank the BCCI for working with us towards this goal and greatly look forward to welcoming the passion of Indian cricket fans, and we actively encourage any local Japanese people curious about cricket to come and cheer on our team in what will be a truly memorable occasion,” said JCA CEO Naoki Miyaji.
More to come…
