The Indian team will begin their preparations for the World Cup 2019 – which is less than a year away – with a full tour of England. But before they take on a rampant England side in 3 T20Is, 3 ODIs and 5 Test matches, the Virat Kohli-led Indian team will make a stopover in Dublin, where they must negotiate the small business of competing against hosts Ireland in a brief T20I series. The two matches will be played at the Malahide Cricket Club Ground in Dublin on 27 and 29 June.
India haven’t played too much international cricket in the last couple of months, but the players have been busy playing in the Indian Premier League – considered by many as the most-competitive T20 league. Shortly after the conclusion of the IPL, some of the players briefly switched formats, taking on Afghanistan in their debut Test match. After a few days at home, the Indian team embarked on a 11-week trip of the United Kingdom.
Milestone Match for India
The first T20I on 27 June will be a special occasion – for it will be India’s 100th T20 International. Teams began competing in T20s at the international level in 2005 and India were the last of the full members to embrace the format. Despite taking time to join the race, the Indian team has been able to consistently dominate the format.
Heading into the series against Ireland, India have won four consecutive T20 series – the last of them the Nidahas Trophy in Sri Lanka in March. No opponent – not South Africa, not Australia, not New Zealand, not Sri Lanka, not anyone else – has been able to clinch a series against India in recent times.
India’s success in the 20-over format is reflected in the ICC rankings for T20 Internationals too; they are within striking distance of the top spot.
Unfortunately though, for Team India, success in the two-match T20I series against Ireland will mean very little in the immediate context of the ICC T20 rankings, for they will not gather even a single rating point even if they win both the matches against Ireland.
Where Ireland are concerned, they are currently ranked 17th and occupy the floor of the ICC T20I rankings. Earlier this month, they clinched a bilateral series against Scotland. They won the first of the two matches by 46 runs – in the process ending their 6-match losing streak, and then tied the second match.
Though several of their players are professionals and compete in the county circuit in England, Ireland have not been able to produce the desired results as a team. Playing at home too, they have a dismal record. In the 9 T20s they’ve played at home, Ireland have managed a solitary win (against Nepal in 2015), while losing 6 other matches.
Will the likes of Paul Stirling, William Porterfield, Kevin O’Brien and Boyd Rankin raise their game and cause an upset or two against the fancied Indian team? The matches will begin at 8:30pm IST and you can follow live updates in our blog here.
Teams:
Ireland (likely XI): Paul Stirling, James Shannon, William Porterfield, Andy Balbirnie, Simranjit Singh, Gary Wilson, Kevin O’Brien, Stuart Poynter, George Dockrell, Stuart Thompson, Boyd Rankin.
India (likely XI): Rohit Sharma, Shikhar Dhawan, Virat Kohli, KL Rahul, Dinesh Karthik, MS Dhoni, Hardik Pandya, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Jasprit Bumrah, Kuldeep Yadav, Yuzvendra Chahal.
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