Japan have announced their squad for the historic men’s T20 International match against reigning T20 World Cup champions and world No.1 India, scheduled for September 22 at the Sano International Cricket Ground.
Kendel Kadowaki-Fleming will captain the side for this landmark fixture. The squad comprises the same players selected for Japan’s Asian Games campaign, which begins in Nagoya two days later on September 24, as reported by the ICC.
Kadowaki-Fleming, Japan’s all-time leading T20I run-scorer, will be accompanied by Ibrahim Takahashi and Declan Suzuki-McComb, who have both made more than 50 T20I appearances. The selection has been made with the Asian Games campaign in mind, leading to the exclusion of players who meet ICC eligibility for T20Is but do not comply with Asian Games regulations.
Emerging spin-bowling all-rounder Jake Kusuda-Nairn secured a place in the squad after impressive performances in domestic cricket. Veteran Tsuyoshi Takada also returns, having first represented Japan at the ICC East Asia-Pacific Twenty20 Championship in 2013.
The squad features Wataru Miyauchi and Makoto Taniyama, both products of Japanese schools with cricket bukatsu programmes. Taniyama, a leg-spinner inspired by Australian great Shane Warne, wears jersey number 23 in tribute to his idol and is Japan’s leading wicket-taker across pathway and international cricket.
Charlie Hara-Hinze, who was part of Japan’s Under-19 World Cup side that defeated Tanzania, has been included, while spinner Benjamin Ito-Davis returns after recovering from a hand injury that affected his participation in Japan’s East Asia-Pacific T20 World Cup 2028 Sub-Regional Qualifier campaign.
Japan finished second in the qualifier tournament and remain in contention for the 2028 T20 World Cup, level on points with Papua New Guinea but behind them on net run rate despite defeating the Barramundis in their final match.
The game against India marks the first event under the “Sport 75” initiative, arising from an agreement between Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The initiative aims to enhance people-to-people exchanges and cooperation between the two countries through sport.
Prior to the India match, Japan will face Hong Kong in two T20Is on September 19 and 20. Following the India fixture, Japan will begin their Asian Games campaign against Afghanistan on September 24 and Nepal on September 26, requiring a top-two finish to advance to the quarter-finals.
India’s squad for the match is led by Shreyas Iyer and includes Abhishek Sharma, Sanju Samson, Ishan Kishan, Shivam Dube, Tilak Varma, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Axar Patel, Washington Sundar, Varun Chakaravarthy, Ravi Bishnoi, Jasprit Bumrah, Harshit Rana, Arshdeep Singh and Vaibhav Sooryavanshi.
Japan squad: Kendel Kadowaki-Fleming (c), Charlie Hara-Hinze, Benjamin Ito-Davis, Alester Kadowaki-Fleming, Kohei Kubota, Jake Kusuda-Nairn, Wataru Miyauchi (wk), Reo Sakurano-Thomas, Alex Shirai-Patmore (wk), Shoma Sugaya-Slater, Declan Suzuki-McComb, Tsuyoshi Takada, Ibrahim Takahashi, Makoto Taniyama, Lachlan Yamamoto-Lake.