New Delhi: After a not-so impressive West Indies tour, the Men In Blue are set for face-off with Ireland in three-match T20 series in Dublin. And, leading the Men in Blue is not a seasoned skipper like Rohit Sharma or Virat Kohli but Jaspirt Bumrah who returned to the International cricket after a long hiatus.
In first T20 match, Team India will take on Ireland at Malahide in Dublin on August 18. Though, the scales are tilted towards India, one shouldn’t underestimate the likes of Ireland as they are in sublime form and have potential to give shocks, if one considers them as minnows.
India vs Ireland, 1st T20: Pitch Report
At first instance, the pitch looks batting-friendly but the team choosing to field first are likely to have advantage here. The pitch will give enough for batters to score big total as the bounce of pitch is likely to facilitate big shots. For bowlers, they may enjoy early swing, putting the batters in spot.
Overall, the average first innings score at the pitch has been 158. And, usually, the team winning the toss prefers to field first.
India vs Ireland: Match Preview
Though, it’s odd to comprehend the challenge between two teams but undoubtedly, the Men in Blue are stronger side and also considered the favourites for the T20 series. On the other hand, Ireland has also been in excellent form. It has won 3 of its last 4 matches while India have won just 2 of their 5 previous encounters.
In its past encounters, Ireland decisively defeated Scotland. In previous match, Scotland put up a good team effort and put up a big total of 213 runs on the board despite suffering early losses. In response to this, Ireland started on a poor note but then the team consolidated its innings and just stopped short of chasing the target. It lost the match by just 8 runs.
India, on its Caribbean trip, was expected to win all the series including T20, Test & ODIs but the Team floundered despite being a better team. Eventually, the Men in Blue could win ODI & Test Series but lost the T20 series to host West Indies.