India vs Ireland T20Is: All eyes on Jasprit Bumrah as Ireland aim to challenge the ‘young’ Indian outfit

This series is yet again a great opportunity for a lot of Indian players to make a name for themselves. I am particularly looking forward to watching Jasprit Bumrah. Not the captain, but the player. I am sure I am not alone as many India fans too would be excited to watch him back in action after a gap of one year. It will be interesting to see where he is at, in terms of fitness, as far as his international comeback is concerned and with ICC Men’s ODI World Cup 2023 fast approaching.

I believe that India are going to find it very difficult to win the World Cup without Bumrah at home. That is why the series if very important from India’s point of view. It is not very easy to make a comeback and get back to your previous best immediately. The reality is that it is going to take him some time to get back to his best. Therefore, he needs to play as much cricket as possible before the World Cup and that is going to be the challenge for Indian management. It will be interesting to see how they manage his workload and at the same time, get him the muchneeded match practice. The next four to five weeks will be very important for Bumrah and Indian cricket. Let’s hope he is in a position where he can play lots of cricket. I want to see him bowl 10 overs per match in the Asia Cup. He needs to be match fit, you are not going to get match-fit, practicing in the nets. So, he must play cricket and let’s hope that the body gets back to being at its peak.

Same with Prasidh Krishna. I have always enjoyed watching Prasidh bowl. He has a high release point and gets the extra bounce off the track than other India pacers. I am excited to watch Rinku Singh bat in an international series. I was lucky enough to be in the commentary box when he hit those 5 sixes in IPL 2023 against Gujarat Titans. I have been around the game fo r a long time as a cricketer and commentator, but I have never seen something as extraordinary as that. I also feel Rinku Singh’s talent goes beyond the five sixes in a row.

If you look back at his recent performances, Rinku has become a consistent run-scorer. I think he can add a great value to the Indian team. He is still far from getting into the main squad, but this is a big opportunity for him to make a name for himself in Indian colours. Same thing with Jitesh Sharma. Hugely impressed with the talent he has and will be excited to see how he performs on the international stage.

As far as bowling lineup is concerned, the likes of Mukesh Kumar and Arshdeep Singh will look to raise their hand and be counted. I think India have already decided their frontline pace attack for World Cup but these two can still look to perform and be ready when the need arises.

As far as Ireland are concerned, they are not going to be pushovers. Their preparation for the next T20 World Cup begins with this series. They have got a great opportunity against a young Indian side to impress on home soil. Ireland have got some quality in their lineup. Paul Stirling can be very destructive and, on his day, can take apart any bowling attack in the world. Harry Tector is a solid player as well as Andy Balbirnie. Josh Little is a very good bowler and Indian players know his quality thanks to his stint in IPL. Ireland have played enough T20 cricket now to challenge India.

I won’t hesitate in saying that If India had fielded a full-strength T20 side, they would have been too much for this strong Ireland side. But with India sending a young Indian side to Ireland, expect this series to be highly competitive.

Coming back to India, they may have lost the series to West Indies but to me, the results do not matter as much as giving experience to the young players, who are the future. Like West Indies, this Ireland series offers another opportunity to India to kickstart their white-ball cricket again. With all the talent and a tournament like IPL, you expect this side to be competing at the back end of the big tournaments. When you are targeting the next World Cup, it is important to make these young guys learn the things on the job, it is important to invest time in them. Sometimes the danger of playing the young players is that you give them the opportunity and then suddenly move on to somebody else. As a result, the investment does not give you returns. It is important that even while investing in the youngsters, the selection is consistent. The players get enough matches to understand their roles. You need to know which set of players are going to win you the trophy in the next World Cup.

I am happy to see that India have done so in the West Indies and Ireland series. It will be interesting to see how they perform against Ireland.