India will lock horns against Ireland in the first T20I at the Village, Dublin on Friday. Both teams will aim to draw first blood in the series and take an early advantage. Jasprit Bumrah will make the much-anticipated return to the action and all eyes will be on his fitness before the Asia Cup and the World Cup.
Furthermore, the young Indian players will aim to grab their chances in the three-match T20I series in the absence of big players. Tilak Varma was the star of the show in the series against the West Indies as he scored 173 runs and he will aim to continue the good form against the Irish team.
Players like Rinku Singh, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Tilak Varma, Shivam Dube, Washington Sundar, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Shahbaz Ahmed, Jitesh Sharma, Prasidh Krishna, Ravi Bishnoi will also aim to make a case for themselves.
On the other hand, Ireland will have come up with a collective effort to challenge the Indian team. The experienced players will have to put their hand up.
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Arshdeep Singh needs another two wickets to complete 50 wickets in the T20I format.
Jasprit Bumrah will become India’s 11th captain in the T20I format after players like Virender Sehwag, MS Dhoni, Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma and Hardik Pandya.
Paul Stirling needs 103 runs to complete 3500 runs in the T20I version.
George Dockrell requires 114 runs to reach the 1000-run mark in the T20I format.
Ireland Squad: Paul Stirling (capt), Andrew Balbirnie, Mark Adair, Ross Adair, Curtis Campher, Gareth Delany, George Dockrell, Fionn Hand, Josh Little, Barry McCarthy, Harry Tector, Lorcan Tucker, Theo van Woerkom, Ben White, Craig Young.
India squad: Jasprit Bumrah (C), Ruturaj Gaikwad (VC), Yashasvi Jaiswal, Tilak Varma, Rinku Singh, Sanju Samson (wk), Jitesh Sharma (wk), Shivam Dube, Washington Sundar, Shahbaz Ahmed, Ravi Bishnoi, Prasidh Krishna, Arshdeep Singh, Mukesh Kumar, Avesh Khan.
