India are all set to face off against Ireland in a short T20I series. The opening encounter will be contested in Belfast on Friday, June 26.
The Men in Blue have a new-look squad as they commence their next T20 World Cup cycle. Shreyas Iyer has been named the captain, with Suryakumar Yadav dropped after a period of poor form. India will also be without Hardik Pandya, Jasprit Bumrah and Varun Chakaravarthy for this series.
India’s squad for T20I series against Ireland and England: Shreyas Iyer (c), Abhishek Sharma, Sanju Samson (wk), Ishan Kishan (wk), Shivam Dube, Tilak Varma (vc), Suryansh Shedge, Axar Patel, Washington Sundar, Ravi Bishnoi, Mohammed Siraj, Harshit Rana, Arshdeep Singh, Prince Yadav, Vaibhav Sooryavanshi.
On that note, here is India’s predicted playing XI for the first T20I against Ireland.
Openers: Sanju Samson (wk) and Abhishek Sharma
The question regarding Vaibhav Sooryavanshi has been on everyone’s lips, but Sitanshu Kotak suggested that India might not immediately bring the youngster into the mix. Abhishek Sharma and Sanju Samson could be persisted with as the first-choice opening combination for now.
Middle Order: Ishan Kishan, Shreyas Iyer (c), Tilak Varma, Axar Patel, Shivam Dube
Ishan Kishan is expected to continue at No. 3, with new captain Shreyas slotting in at No. 4. Tilak Varma’s T20 game has been suspect for a while now, but with India naming him as the vice-captain, he seems set to feature.
Axar Patel should pip Washington Sundar to a spot in the playing XI, with India likely to prefer a specialist spinner in the form of Ravi Bishnoi as his partner. Shivam Dube has been a consistent feature of the last two T20 World Cup winning squads and will be part of the middle order despite his questionable Indian Premier League form.
Lower Order: Harshit Rana, Ravi Bishnoi, Arshdeep Singh, Prince Yadav
Prasidh Krishna was only added to the squad after Mohammed Siraj was ruled out due to workload management, so might have to wait for his turn. Harshit Rana, Arshdeep Singh and Prince Yadav could be the three specialist fast bowlers, with Bishnoi serving as the lead spinner.
Edited by Sai Krishna
