Japan captain Kendel Kadowaki-Fleming sees the T20I coming up against India as more than just one game of international cricket. The match against one of the world’s biggest cricketing nations may also potentially prove to be an important step in Japanese cricket development.
Kadowaki-Fleming said she hopes this is not a one-off match vs India. Rather, he suggested the landmark match lay the way for Japan to form closer ties to top cricket nations and regularly face stronger international opposition.
With Japan facing off against India, this is sure to garner wide-spread interest in the sport here. The Indian team has one of the largest cricket audiences in the world, and a match involving them offers a wide portfolio of new viewers for developing cricket nations. It will be a rare opportunity for Japanese players to see how they measure up internationally against better competition, and learn what playing high-level cricket in terms of intensity is all about..
Such experience, he insists, is vital to the long-term development of the national side. If you want to better understand the standards needed at the very peak, then playing against stronger opposition can set yu in the right direction. It can also provide a greater incentive for young cricketers in Japan to pick up a bat and aspire to play in the national side.
Japan has been working on their cricket structure in recent years with more and more efforts to develop the sport domestically. Yet, it still remains hard to find regular matches against noted cricketing nations. Which is why next week’s tie against India is especially high stakes for the Japanese.
To Kadowaki-Fleming and his fellow members, the game is a chance to show Japan’s progress on a global scale. Though India has far more international experience coming into the contest, Japan will be keen to celebrate a historic occasion.
It is obvious what the captain wants: a first step, not a last step on the road to play against the best teams in Japan. These are exciting times for Japanese cricket and, if the fixture is part of a new international competition or future series, it could be an important moment in the history of the game here.
With Japan now looking forward to its match against India, the focus will shift on both the team and its skipper. Kadowaki-Fleming said that she hopes whatever the result, the moment leaves an imprint and paves the way for something exciting ahead in Japan’s cricket history.
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