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By K.R. Nayar Though India won their only T20 International match at Sano by a nail-biting two runs, it was a morale-boosting defeat for Japan, who took on the giants of world cricket. It was a match reduced to five overs per side following a delayed start due to a wet outfield. But that did not dampen the excitement as Japan turned the match into a thriller and got Team India to sweat for their win.  The fact that Japan tightened India to only 32 for 4 in five overs in their first big match is itself a huge honour. Japan did lose the match, but they walked off holding their heads high, winning the respect of a cricket giant and catching the attention of the cricketing world.  Had Japan won, it would have been labelled a historic upset. Those who tuned in late and saw the scoreboard reading 14 for 3 would not, in their wildest dreams, have imagined it to be India’s score. For India, it was another victory, but for Japan, it was a cricketing fairy tale that they can rec...

By K.R. Nayar When the Japan cricket team takes on India in a Men’s T20 International cricket match on September 22, 2026, at the Sano International Cricket Ground in Tochigi Prefecture for the Suzuki Cup, it will make cricket enthusiast and Dubai-based businessman Shyam Bhatia a very happy man. To encourage cricket in Japan, way back in 2011, he had distributed cricket kits to children in Japan through his Cricket for Care charity. What started as a selfless gesture has travelled a remarkable distance - from a cricket kit in the hands of a Japanese child to an international match against one of the world’s cricketing giants. Fifteen years later, when Japan takes on India, Bhatia will have every reason to smile. It is a moment when a small seed planted with kindness has grown into a tree of opportunity. The journey may have taken years, but the reward is a historic occasion for Japanese cricket. Japanese children with the Shyam Bhatia's Cricket for Care charity kits during th...

By K.R. Nayar Indian opener Abhishek Sharma’s meditation celebration after hitting the fastest T20I century ever scored by a player from an ICC Full Member (Test-playing) nation, in New Delhi against Afghanistan in 30 balls, seems to reveal a lot more than his record-shattering feat. The fact that a man who played the most violent knock in T20 cricket celebrated it by sitting cross-legged, closing his eyes and adopting a meditative posture says a lot. Abhishek’s thirty-ball century, during the course of his knock of 108 in 34 balls, with 11 sixes and nine fours, was aggressive, and his decision to opt for a few seconds of tranquillity after the feat, was unexpected. In fact, Abhishek has revealed that through the practice of meditation, which he does regularly, the body can be explosive while the mind remains calm. As a result, he has beaten the previous Full Member batters’ record of reaching a century in 33 balls, jointly held by Zimbabwe’s Sikandar Raza and New Zealand’s Finn Al...

By K.R. Nayar Sanju Samson’s press conference remark after his match-winning knock in India’s seven-wicket win over Afghanistan in the second T20 International in Delhi on September 15, 2026, can be a lesson for youngsters who face intense competition for a slot in the team. Samson was explaining the mature mindset needed in the Indian team dressing room and that players cannot afford to be selfish or bitter when someone else is picked ahead of them. His remark that “I think they (Sooryavanshi and Abhishek Sharma) are competitors for the outside world, but we are a team, and we are playing for a country. We want to win the game first, and then it comes down to the other individuals. We can’t sulk or be in a negative frame of mind, thinking, ‘Yaar, mujhe nahi mila, usko kyun diya.’ Those kinds of mindsets don’t work here,” was his mature approach . This remark shows that Samson carries an invisible muscle behind his success, over and above the strength and timing that flows from h...

By K.R. Nayar The trend of not receiving the Asia Cup winners’ trophy has continued, with the Indian women’s team following their men’s team in refusing to receive the trophy. Indian women’s team refused to receive it after recording their eighth title triumph in Dubai on September 13, 2026, while the men’s team did the same after they won the Asia Cup for the ninth time on September 28, 2025. The Asia Cup trophy that did not get lifted Should an Asia Cup trophy be humiliated in this manner? India’s refusal to accept the trophy is because the Asian Cricket Council (ACC) President is Mohsin Naqvi, who is also the chairman of the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB). The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has notified the ACC in writing that Indian teams would not step onto the presentation podium if Naqvi was handing out the trophy. This is because of the Indian government’s policy regarding diplomatic relations with Pakistan’s ministers. Naqvi holds a dual role as the PCB Chairma...

By K.R. Nayar There was a time when an India-Pakistan cricket match was held - be it between the men or women  - and one would say ‘anything can happen’. But now, nothing happens - India emerges victorious. On Saturday, India beat Pakistan in the Women’s Asia Cup by seven wickets in Dubai. The match was totally one-sided with Pakistan getting bowled out for 55, their lowest-ever total in women’s T20Is. India strolled to the target in just 8.4 overs. Is this what we want to witness when two teams considered arch-rivals meet? When India and Pakistan met, it was billed as one of cricket’s great rivalries. Of late, matches between these two countries resemble a practice match. When Pakistan was 27 without loss, one did not expect they would manage to cross just the 50-run mark. It was not a collapse but a landslide. India’s spinners looked like road rollers. They bulldozed the Pakistan batting line-up. The demolishers were Shree Charani and Prema Rawat, with three wickets apiece,...