Team India are preparing to play a two-match T20I series against Ireland in Dublin ahead of the tour of England. For many members of the touring party, it will be a golden opportunity to have the leadership and coaching group of the national set-up take notice, while for others it will be an important series to get some match-time ahead of significant T20I tournaments including the World Cup in the second half of 2022.
Coming right on the heels of the 2-2 drawn series at home against South Africa, there will be many questions for VVS Laxman – India’s head coach for the Ireland series in place of Rahul Dravid who is with the Indian Test squad in England – to answer in the T20Is. With senior members such as Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Rishabh Pant, Jasprit Bumrah, and Mohammed Shami currently preparing for the Test match against England, the team will be led by Hardik Pandya. He will have veteran pacer Bhuvneshwar Kumar as his deputy.
The big question for Hardik and the new-look Indian support staff would be about the XI they pick for the two matches. India played with an unchanged XI for all five matches against South Africa. Barring Rishabh Pant and Shreyas Iyer, they have a largely similar squad for the Ireland series. Hardik might want to stick to the same combination but he will be tempted to hand debuts to exciting young players such as Rahul Tripathi, Umran Malik, and Arshdeep Singh.
In the opening slots, Ruturaj Gaikwad and Ishan Kishan have done more than enough to cement their places for the Ireland series. In the middle order, Iyer and Pant have been replaced by Tripathi, Suryakumar Yadav, and Sanju Samson, all of whom will hope to play in the number 3 slot. One of them will have to miss out, but all three are very exciting attacking batters.
Captain Hardik Pandya was very impressive in the South Africa series and will retain his spot at 5, which many see as providing the best of both worlds for an increasingly mature batter. Dinesh Karthik will continue his career resurgence at number 6, also likely to don the gloves with Pant in England. There is a lack of all-rounders in the travelling squad — Dravid might go with an extra pacer on faster tracks, but that is a choice that might leave India with a very long tail with Harshal Patel batting at 7 instead of Axar Patel. The pace bowling combination was Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Avesh Khan, and Harshal Patel throughout the series against South Africa, but the appeal of blooding in Arshdeep and Umran Malik might result in them getting games against Ireland. Finally, the spinning options come down to Yuzvendra Chahal and Ravi Bishnoi, but Chahal is showing too much form to be dropped so soon after his comeback to the team.
India predicted playing XI vs Ireland, 1st T20I:
Opening batters: Ruturaj Gaikwad, Ishan Kishan
Middle order: Sanju Samson, Suryakumar Yadav, Hardik Pandya (c)
Power hitters: Hardik Pandya (c), Dinesh Karthik (wk), Venkatesh Iyer
Pace options: Harshal Patel, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Arshdeep Singh
Spinner: Yuzvendra Chahal
India Predicted XI: Ruturah Gaikwad, Ishan Kishan, Sanju Samson, Suryakumar Yadav, Hardik Pandya (c), Dinesh Karthik (wk), Venkatesh Iyer, Harshal Patel, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Arshdeep Singh, Yuzvendra Chahal
