India defeated Japan by two runs in a historic one-off five-over T20I in Sano on September 22, 2026, marking the first-ever international cricket meeting between the two nations. India scored 32 for 4 while Japan managed 30 for 3 in their innings. The match took place on a surface that drew significant scrutiny from cricket observers regarding its suitability for international competition.
Shreyas Iyer was named Player of the Match after scoring 16 runs from 12 balls. The Indian batter’s performance stood out on a pitch that presented considerable challenges to batsmen throughout the contest.
Aakash Chopra slammed the playing conditions, saying that if such pitches are used, it will not help in globalising the sport.
“As far as the pitch is concerned, it is a big challenge. Because the way it played and the match happened, started quickly and ended quickly, it almost went like a blur. But matches cannot be played on these types of pitches if you want to take international cricket to remote areas. It has to be played on better surfaces. It is not raining, but the ground is not drying up because you don’t have a super sopper or the capacity to cover it. If you are playing an international match here, then it is just not good enough. This is a challenge that everyone will have to sort out,” Chopra said on his YouTube channel.
Iyer’s batting strategy on a turning surface
The pitch was described as slow and gripping, with the outfield proving excruciatingly slow throughout the contest. The surface appeared to retain excessive moisture despite the absence of rainfall, a condition that typically occurs when groundskeeping equipment such as super soppers or adequate ground covers are unavailable. These factors combined to create playing conditions that Chopra felt fell short of international standards.
After the match, Iyer mentioned that the balls were turning square and highlighted how difficult it was for the batters to score their runs.
“Well, certainly turning square. Honestly speaking, it was a very difficult wicket to bat on. We saw the openers as well, who are used to scoring runs consistently, not able to gauge the pace of the spin, and I decided when I got in that it’s important that I need to take singles and doubles and rotate the strike as much as possible,” Iyer said.
Chopra opined that India were understandably slightly complacent heading into the clash but also ended up suffering one of the biggest upsets in the history of the sport.
“Genuinely, at one stage, you thought that we’re done. We were thinking fun and frolic, we’ll just laugh and giggle and get through it. The Indian team also seemed to have similar intentions and attitude, which is understandable and acceptable. Not a huge fan of a 5-over game, but under the circumstances, it was okay,” Chopra said.
