India will kick off their T20 World Cup campaign against Ireland at the Nassau County International Cricket Stadium, New York on Wednesday. The Rohit Sharma-led team hasn’t been able to cross the last hurdle in the major ICC tournaments and they will look to get off to a good start.
A major silverware has eluded the Indian team in the last decade and they will be determined to end their drought. India has been dominant throughout the major tournaments but they have failed to bring their A-game in the big knockout matches.
Consequently, they will want to be fearless in the ongoing T20I showpiece. India’s T20I batting approach has been sedate and thus it has been questioned by many boffins and it is time that they take the bull by its horns.
There are conundrums on India’s opening combination. Will it be Yashasvi Jaiswal and Rohit Sharma or Virat Kohli and the Indian captain? India’s head coach Rahul Dravid, who has confirmed that the T20 World Cup is his last assignment, wants to keep his cards close to his chest.
Indian players were in solid form in the IPL and they will be looking to continue the good show.
On the other hand, Ireland will need to play out of their skin to challenge the potent Indian team. Ireland recently registered wins against the Netherlands and Scotland and also stunned Pakistan and thus India wouldn’t want to be complacent against the Irish team.
Match Prediction: India will start this contest as red-hot favorites against Ireland.
Squad: Rohit Sharma (Captain), Hardik Pandya (Vice Captain), Yashasvi Jaiswal, Virat Kohli, Suryakumar Yadav, Rishabh Pant (WK), Sanju Samson (WK), Shivam Dube, Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, Yuzvendra Chahal, Arshdeep Singh, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohd. Siraj.
Ireland’s squad: Paul Stirling (Capt), Mark Adair, Ross Adair, Andrew Balbirnie, Curtis Campher, Gareth Delany, George Dockrell, Graham Hume, Josh Little, Barry McCarthy, Neil Rock, Harry Tector, Lorcan Tucker, Ben White, Craig Young.
