“More than a cricket match”: BCCI secretary Saikia on inaugural India-Japan T20I

Mumbai (Maharashtra) [India], September 7 (ANI): The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) secretary Devajit Saikia termed the upcoming inaugural T20I between world champions India and Japan as ‘greater than a cricket match’, however as a route the place the sport of cricket is transferring from a ‘world ambition’ to world actuality’. 

The Japan Cricket Association (JCA) and the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) on Friday introduced that the lads’s groups from every nation will play a T20 International match to launch the celebrations of the seventy fifth anniversary of India-Japan diplomatic relations. 

Posting on X, Saikia stated that the game’s journey is ‘being formed by moments that take the sport past its conventional boundaries.’

‘Cricket’s world journey is being formed by moments that take the sport past its conventional boundaries. The India-Japan T20I match on twenty second September ’26 is one such second taking worldwide cricket to Japan, connecting with a brand new viewers and strengthening the sport’s presence in a area with immense potential,’ he stated. 

He additionally stated that the match is a chance to recognise the imaginative and prescient and groundwork laid down by Jai Shah, the present ICC Chairman throughout his tenure as BCCI secretary, for the expansion of cricket globally on the coronary heart of its future. Saikia additionally recognised the accountability of BCCI to carry the game to ‘new international locations, new communities and new generations’.

‘From increasing cricket into new territories to constructing a stronger pathway in direction of the Olympic motion, the ambition has at all times been clear: make cricket extra accessible, extra inclusive and actually world. As BCCI, our accountability is to construct on that basis and proceed taking the sport to new international locations, new communities and new generations. India-Japan is greater than a cricket match. It represents the route through which our sport is transferring from a worldwide ambition to a worldwide actuality. The journey has begun. And there’s rather more to return,’ he signed off. 

https://x.com/lonsaikia/status/2096810980487667782

The match, titled as ‘The Suzuki Cup’ will happen on the Sano International Cricket Ground in Tochigi Prefecture on September 22, 2026.

According to the press launch, the match would be the first step of “Sport 75”, an initiative that stems from an settlement reached throughout a summit between Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and goals to advertise human exchanges and cooperation between India and Japan within the discipline of sports activities, paying attention to India’s ambition to host the Olympic and Paralympic Games in 2036.

JCA CEO Naoki Miyaji known as India’s go to to Japan a landmark second, thanking the BCCI for its assist and alluring each Indian cricket followers and native Japanese spectators to attend the historic T20I.

“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,” he stated. (ANI)