Fast track to glory: Team India boards Japan’s bullet train to Nagoya for Asian Games 2026 quarter-final

India’s men’s cricket team has arrived in Nagoya in style, travelling from Tokyo on Japan’s bullet train ahead of their Asian Games 2026 campaign. The Shreyas Iyer-led squad boarded the Nozomi Shinkansen service on September 26 as part of a pre-planned travel arrangement to the host city for their quarter-final clash.

The Indian contingent covered the Tokyo-Nagoya stretch on the Nozomi Shinkansen, one of the fastest train services operating on the Tokaido and Sanyo Shinkansen lines. Pictures and videos from the journey, shared on the Indian Cricket Team’s official social media, showed players settling in for the high-speed ride and seen enjoying the journey.

The team had earlier evaluated base options in Tokyo and Osaka, both roughly 90 minutes from Nagoya by bullet train, with the Tokyo-Nagoya stretch covering about 366 km and the Osaka-Nagoya leg around 175-187 km on the Shinkansen network before finalising their travel plan. The Shinkansen route was thus a calculated choice to balance preparation time, logistics and comfort before the knockout stage.

Fans hail ‘bullet-speed’ Team India 

Team India’s bullet train journey from Tokyo to Nagoya drew a strong response on social media, with fans praising the players’ relaxed travel and upbeat mood. Clips posted by the Indian cricket team’s official handles showed players boarding the Nozomi Shinkansen and settling in for the journey.

Fans on social media described the trip as “classy” and “next-level”, with many linking the bullet train’s speed to India’s campaign to defend its Asian Games gold. The footage was also widely shared by cricket fan pages, with captions such as “Team India in Shinkansen mode” adding to the excitement ahead of the quarter-final.

Asian Games 2026: India’s gold-medal defence begins

The Asian Games 2026 are being held in Aichi-Nagoya, Japan, from September 19 to October 4, with cricket action already underway. India are also the defending champions.

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India’s squad features a mix of established internationals and emerging talents, including Tilak Varma, Ravi Bishnoi, Abhishek Sharma, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Jasprit Bumrah, Sanju Samson, Axar Patel, Ishan Kishan, Washington Sundar, Arshdeep Singh, Shivam Dube, Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, Vipraj Nigam and Yash Thakur. The team is aiming to retain the gold medal it won in the previous edition, where it also beat Afghanistan in the final.