Cricket: India to take on Ireland in first encounter of three match T-20 series in Dublin
In Cricket, India will take on Ireland in the first encounter of the three match T-20 series in Dublin today. The Indian side will be led by skipper Jasprit Bumrah, and the match begins at 7.30 IST.
It is going to be a crucial series for pacer Bumrah and Prasidh as they will have to prove full fitness ahead of Asia Cup 2023, which is due to start on 30th of this month.
This will be the second time in a row that India will be touring Ireland to play T20 series. In 2022, the Hardik Pandya-led side won the two-match T20 series 2-0.
Less than six months after undergoing his back surgery in Christchurch, Jasprit Bumrah has returned. The long and excruciating process of rest, recovery and rehabilitation is officially over as BCCI’s social channels gave a glimpse of a full-tilt Bumrah in the nets on the eve of the first Ireland fixture, making batters duck and hop at bouncers and yorkers. The 29-year-old isn’t just back, he also leads the team in the three-match series that begins on Friday.
As BCCI secretary Jay Shah held crunch talks with Rahul Dravid in Miami in the backdrop of India’s underwhelming show against West Indies, Bumrah arrived with his IPL bandwagon on the other side of the North Atlantic ocean with his IPL bandwagon in search of game time (for himself) and solace (for the team). The impressive likes of Shivam Dube, Rinku Singh and Jitesh Sharma will hope they can cash in their IPL 2023 performances for an India debut and make it count like Tilak Varma has recently done.
Like India, the hosts too come armed with a new captain. One of their most seasoned war-horses Paul Stirling takes over the leadership. Though they suffered heartbreak at the ODI World Cup qualifiers and saw Andrew Balbirnie step down as captain in the aftermath of that tournament, Ireland quickly bounced back and secured a spot in the 2024 T20 World Cup. Ireland’s squad for the India games is full of players that earned their team the qualification, and they too boast an IPL 2023 star in Joshua Little who impressed for runners up Gujarat Titans.
Squads:
India Squad: Yashasvi Jaiswal, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Tilak Varma, Sanju Samson(w), Shivam Dube, Rinku Singh, Washington Sundar, Ravi Bishnoi, Arshdeep Singh, Jasprit Bumrah(c), Mukesh Kumar, Avesh Khan, Jitesh Sharma, Prasidh Krishna, Shahbaz Ahmed
Ireland Squad: Andrew Balbirnie, Paul Stirling(c), Lorcan Tucker(w), Harry Tector, Gareth Delany, Curtis Campher, George Dockrell, Mark Adair, Barry McCarthy, Joshua Little, Benjamin White, Fionn Hand, Craig Young, Theo van Woerkom, Ross Adair.
