India’s captain for the series against Ireland, Hardik Pandya reckons every match is important if India has to win the T20 World Cup. Team India recently drew the series against South Africa at home after losing the first two matches however they were able to bounce back stronger.
Meanwhile, India could not qualify for the semifinal stages in the previous T20 World Cup after they lost their opening matches against arch-rivals Pakistan and their bogey team in major ICC events in the recent past, New Zealand.
In fact, India had won their major ICC event when MS Dhoni had led the team to glory in the Champions Trophy in 2013. Since then India has been consistent in the marquee events but they haven’t been at their best in the knockout matches.
On the other hand, Hardik Pandya had recently led Gujarat Titans to glory in the Tata IPL 2022 and he had led from the front. After his impressive show as a leader, Pandya was given captaincy reins for the two-match T20I series against Ireland.
“It’s a challenge mentally, it is easier to say that we are playing against Ireland but playing for India is the biggest pride. If we want to win the World Cup, every match from here is important for us to reach the World Cup final,” Hardik told the press on the eve of the 1st T20I in Dublin.
India will clearly start as favorites against Ireland but Pandya feels irrespective of the opponents, they should keep their intensity high to prepare well for the T20I showpiece.
“We keep the same intensity we generally keep even if we are playing the World Cup or a big series. Again it comes down to mental strength, how better you can get because it’s not easy in two matches getting yourself on but at the same time we are playing for India and we have to be on our A-game which we will,” Hardik added.
Meanwhile, India has shown potent bench strength and a lot of players are rising through the ranks because of the IPL.
Hardik said: “If such a situation arises that we have to send two teams, we are very lucky that we have the bench strength where we can allow the players to go and express and a lot of people will get opportunities.
“There are so much talent in India that people don’t get opportunities. Playing for India is always a dream and for them to achieve that dream will be really fantastic,” he said.
India had a 3-0 record against Ireland in T20 cricket. The visitors will face Ireland in the first T20I on Sunday.
