The one-off T20I between India and Japan was reduced to a five-over-per-side encounter after a wet outfield delayed the start of the game. Shreyas Iyer won the toss and opted to bat first, with India scoring 32 runs for the loss of four wickets. The Men in Blue, in fact, hit just two boundaries during the course of the innings, with skipper Iyer amassing 16 not out.

Chasing 33 to win, the home team got off to a slow start, scoring two runs in the opening over and losing one wicket. Opener Lachlan Yamamoto- Lake was run out after a massive mix-up. Washington Sundar bowled the second over, and Ibrahim Takahashi hit the bowler for a boundary.

The 26-year-old Sundar got rid of Ibrahim on the next ball, with Ravi Bishnoi completing the catch.

The third over saw Bishnoi give away 10 runs as the home team came back into the contest. They needed 15 runs from the last 12 balls. The match went down to the wire when Washington conceded seven runs in the penultimate over.

Skipper Kendel Kadowski-Fleming was out on the final ball of the 4th over, giving Yash Thakur a simple catch. The Japanese needed just eight runs to win from the final over, with Shreyas Iyer giving the ball to Axar Patel.

The 32-year-old held his nerve and gave away just five runs to eke out a 2-run win for the Indian side.

Rude awakening for Team India

India almost lost the match before heading into the Asian Games 2026 as the defending champions. Abhishek Sharma was out for a duck for the seventh time this year during the IND vs JAP clash.

Sanju Samson managed to score nine runs from 7 balls with one boundary. The world number 1 batter Ishan Kishan managed only three runs from six balls. The form of Ravi Bishnoi is a concern, considering the leggie went for 10 runs on a wicket that had something for the spinners.