Japan men’s cricket team captain Kendel Kadowaki-Fleming has said that he and his team aren’t worried about the Vaibhav Sooryavanshi threat, adding that they have a potent weapon in their armoury to get rid of the 15-year-old quickly.
Speaking on Wisden’s The Scoop, Kendel said that he wasn’t concerned about India’s swashbuckling opener Sooryavanshi, pointing out that Japan have 17-year-old left-arm spinner Charlie Hara-Hinze in their team, who has dismissed the youngster before.
Charlie dismissed Sooryavanshi during the 2024 U19 Asia Cup in a one-day game in Sharjah. Sooryavanshi scored 23 runs off 19 deliveries, smacking three fours and a six, before falling to Charlie in the eighth over of the innings.
“Well, our young 17-year-old left-arm spinner
has actually got him out before in an Asia Cup at Under-19 level, so we have got him sorted. Don’t worry,” Kendel said.
The Asian Games will be underway when India face Japan on September 22 and Kendel expects a strong turnout at the stadium as organisers step up preparations for the clash.
“I believe they are trying to get some temporary stands in there at the moment. We do have two stands that sit there normally and we can fit around 500 people in the ground,” Kendel said.
“But I understand we are expecting around 2,000 to 3,000 for this match. Obviously, these Indian players are A-list celebrities and I think we will have plenty of supporters, Indian supporters of cricket, coming from Tokyo and everywhere around the country,” Kendel added.
India will travel to Japan for the first men’s international between the two countries, with the clash at the Sano International Cricket Ground coming just days before the Asian Games in Aichi-Nagoya.
17-year-old Hara-Hinze is familiar with India’s young talent, having faced the Indian team in the group stage of the 2024 U19 Asia Cup, where IPL-bound youngsters Ayush Mhatre and Sooryavanshi featured.
