ASIAN GAMES 2026 | Japan embracing the occasion of facing India in cricket rather than fearing it

Alan Curr remembers V.V.S. Laxman’s 281 .

He was at university when Laxman played one of Test cricket’s greatest innings against Australia at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata in 2001. Twenty-five years later, Curr, now Chief Operating Officer of the Japan Cricket Association (JCA), found himself on the phone with Laxman, only this time the Indian legend was asking the questions.

Laxman, now coach of the Indian men’s team travelling to the Games, wanted to know what to expect in Japan.

“Certainly in the two or three minutes leading up to the call, you’re like, wow, I saw this guy play a lot of cricket,” Curr tells Sportstar.

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