With the lead in hand, the Men in Blue will head towards the Malahide Cricket Club with the hopes of securing the series in the second T20I on Sunday against hosts Ireland.
Stand-in skipper Jasprit Bumrah made his comeback to cricket after almost a year and it’s fair to say, that his return was blistering. The right-arm fast bowler also became the 11th T20I captain to lead the sub-continent over the years. With only a few days remaining in the highly anticipated 2023 ICC Cricket World Cup, Bumrah’s return will surely flame some hope in the eyes of Indian supporters.
Other than the skipper, Ravi Bishnoi also provided an eminent display of his bowling prowess and proved that he can be trusted in the middle overs. The Indian cricket team has always been rich in its spinners. Hence, to rise in the ranks, Bishnoi will have to compete with the likes of Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Yuzvendra Chahal, and Kuldeep Yadav before he gets picked up for major future endeavours.
What have they done so far?
Before their three-match T20I series against India, Ireland were competing in the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup Qualifiers. Their journey was pretty smooth except for the loss against Scotland.
On the other hand, India competed in a five-match T20I series against the West Indies under the captaincy of Hardik Pandya. Unfortunately, they were on the losing side as the Caribbean representatives won the series 3-2.
Playing the first match of the series against the Irish, India won the toss and decided to field first. Bumrah gave his side an ideal start by taking the wickets of Andrew Balbirnie and Lorcan Tucker in his first over on his comeback to international cricket.
After getting an early breakthrough, Prasidh Krishna and Ravi Bishnoi managed to capitalize on the opportunity by picking up a few more wickets. After seven overs, Ireland was at 32 for a loss of five wickets. Despite the severe collapse of their batting line-up, Curtis Campher and Barry McCarthy stabilized the innings with a 57-run partnership for the seventh wicket.
Campher scored 39 runs off 33 deliveries before he was dismissed by Arshdeep Singh, while on the flip side, McCarthy completed his half-century in 33 deliveries and remained unbeaten until the end. As a result, Ireland managed to post a target of 140 runs for the visitors.
Yashasvi Jaiswal and Ruturaj Gaikwad came to open the innings for India and they played well during the powerplay. However, as the drizzling started, Jaiswal lost his wicket against Craig Young, and Tilak Varma also headed towards the pavilion for a golden duck on the next ball. Consequently, the match was stopped and the Men in Blue were declared the winners by two runs according to the DLS method.
Head to Head Record
Team India will be looking forward to winning the series 3-0 and clean sweep the Irish side
The rivalry between India and Ireland has come into existence in the last few years. The two sides played against each other for the first time in the shortest format of cricket in 2009, during the T20 World Cup in England.
Consequently, they later faced each other in a two-match bilateral series in 2018, which was won by the Men in Blue 2-0. They last faced each other in 2022, when India extended Ireland’s wait for a possible win over the subcontinent by winning the two-match series again. Looking at the statistics, the two nations have squared off in T20I matches on five occasions and India has won at all the junctures.
Key Players
Curtis Campher (Ireland): Curtis Campher was an outstanding performer for Ireland in the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup Qualifiers. Moreover, he also played a major role in helping his side reach a respectable total against India in their first T20I. Consequently, following his consistency and reliability, he will be under the limelight in the second T20I too.
Jasprit Bumrah (India): With his return to international cricket, Jasprit Bumrah has started his resurgence in fitness. He guided the Indian team toward the win on Friday and he will be looking forward to delivering an improved Individual as well as a tactical performance in the second match.
Predicted XIs
Ireland: Paul Stirling ©, Andrew Balbirnie, Harry Tector, Gareth Delany, Curtis Campher, George Dockrell, Lorcan Tucker (wk), Barry McCarthy, Joshua Little, Mark Adair, Craig Young
India: Yashasvi Jaiswal, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Sanju Samson (wk), Tilak Varma, Rinku Singh, Shivam Dube, Washington Sundar, Prasidh Krishna. Ravi Bishnoi, Jasprit Bumrah ©, Arshdeep Singh
Prediction
After losing the first match of the series, the second T20I will present a do-or-die situation for Paul Stirling’s Ireland. They’ll look forward to winning the match on home soil but defeating India will be a major task for the Irish. Hence, Jasprit Bumrah’s side is more likely to ace the challenge presented by the hosts.