Tezzbuzz Desk- The Indian men's cricket team flew to Japan from New Delhi. The team's tour of Japan under the leadership of Shreyas Iyer is considered important for the preparations before the Asian Games. India first has to play a T20 International match against the Japan cricket team on 22 September. After this, the Indian team will move to Nagoya for the Asian Games, where cricket matches will start from September 28.
Along with the Indian team, Jammu and Kashmir fast bowler Rasikh Salam Dar, Maharashtra spin bowler Vicky Ostwal and Uttar Pradesh fast bowler Karthik Tyagi have also left for Japan. All three have been included with the team as net bowlers. However, all three are not part of India's main team selected for the Asian Games. Their main job will be to provide different types of bowling to the Indian batsmen during practice. After reaching Japan, the Indian team will practice at the Sano International Stadium on September 21. The next day i.e. on 22nd September, T20 match will be played between India and Japan. This match is being organized on the occasion of completion of 75 years of diplomatic relations between the two countries. After this match, the Indian team will stay in Sano and prepare for the Asian Games matches.
The Indian team will then leave for Nagoya. India's first cricket match in the Asian Games is to be played on 28 September. In such a situation, the team management will have time to adapt to the conditions in Japan and prepare the players. Improving practice is also a reason behind the inclusion of additional bowlers in the team. Indian batsmen will constantly get a chance to face bowlers of different pace, line and length in the nets. Rasikh Salam and Karthik Tyagi will provide fast bowling options, while Vicky Ostwal will give practice to the batsmen with spin bowling.
After the departure of Nitish Kumar Reddy from the Indian team, now 14 players are left in the main squad. Nitish Kumar Reddy was earlier a part of the Indian team selected for the Asian Games, but was later included in the squad for the home ODI series against West Indies. After this there was a change in the Indian team of the Asian Games. There are a lot of expectations from the Indian team regarding cricket in the Asian Games. The match against Japan will be an opportunity for the team to practice and understand the conditions before the tournament. At the same time, the presence of three net bowlers will give the Indian batsmen an opportunity to further strengthen their preparations.