At the T20 World Cup 2024, the Indian team will play their first matchup against an Ireland team that has improved significantly in recent years. In order to help the squad break their ICC trophy curse and perform well in the T20 World Cup, the Indian players will be looking to bounce back from their individual IPL seasons and come together as a cohesive unit. The team has quality, no doubt about it, and Rohit Sharma and Rahul Dravid have the task of assembling a team that will win them games.
Ireland, on the other hand, have played some incredible cricket in the past few years, and they were able to pull off a big win against Pakistan in the recently-concluded series before the T20 World Cup. While they did end up losing the series against Babar Azam and his men, they remained competitive with bat and ball and pushed Pakistan all the way. Andrew Balbirnie, Paul Stirling, Lorcan Tucker and Josh Little are all big names in T20 cricket and they will be stepping out on the Nassau County stadium aiming for a big upset.
For India, the team composition is something that would be key and the warm-up game against Bangladesh gave the fans a lot of clues as to how they can expect the side to play in the T20 World Cup. The use of Rishabh Pant at No.3 was a surprise move but one that paid a lot of dividends in the game against Bangladesh. Hardik Pandya’s return to form was a welcome sight for the Indian cricket fans. After an IPL 2024 campaign he would quickly like to forget, Hardik showed glimpses of his early MI days as a destructive finisher and also chipped in with a wicket.
The bowling line-up looked solid in the game, led by pace spearhead Jasprit Bumrah and Arshdeep Singh did a fine job to support him. The big name missing, however, was a certain Virat Kohli. Having arrived late to join the team, Kohli has been quietly working in the background to get up to speed after an impressive IPL 2024 campaign. The star batter had an intense net session on June 3 where he faced the top bowlers in the side and looked to be in fine touch.
A lot of things do point towards an Indian win but Ireland would be here to show that they hang with the big boys of the game. The Irish boast of a strong bowling lineup with a lot of variety and it could potentially trouble the Indian team.
IND vs IRE: Head-to-Head
Ireland are yet to beat India in a T20I game so far. Both teams have faced off in 8 matches with India winning 7 of them and one being washed out. The last time both teams faced in a T20 World Cup was in 2009, when India secured a comfortable 8-wicket win.
IND vs IRE: Team news
It seems like Yashasvi Jaiswal will have to wait to get his chance to play in the T20 World Cup with India likely to open with Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli. It also means that we are likely to see Pant continue as the No.3 and Shivam Dube being in the mix as well.
Arshdeep and Mohammed Siraj will be expected to be in the lineup, with Hardik acting as a 4th pace option. Kuldeep Yadav and Ravindra Jadeja would be expected to be the 2 spinners in the side.
IND vs IRE: Pitch Report
This seems to be the big mystery at this point. The pitch came under the scanner after the infamous South Africa vs Sri Lanka game where a target of 78 seemed to be a tough one at the end of the day. India scored 180-plus in the warm-up game and would be hoping to have a similar impact with the bat on Wednesday.
IND vs IRE: Probable Playing XI
India: Rohit Sharma (capt), Virat Kohli, Suryakumar Yadav, Shivam Dube, Rishabh Pant (wk), Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, Kuldeep Yadav, Arshdeep Singh, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj.
Ireland: Andy Balbirnie, Paul Stirling (capt), Lorcan Tucker (wk), Harry Tector, Curtis Campher, George Dockrell, Gareth Delany, Mark Adair, Barry McCarthy, Craig Young, Ben White.
IND vs IRE: Prediction
India will be expected to start their campaign with a win and extend their unbeaten run against Ireland.
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