Selection Dilemmas and Potential Surprises Ahead of India vs Ireland Clash
Probable XI: Rohit Sharma (c), Virat Kohli, Rishabh Pant, Suryakumar Yadav, Shivam Dube, Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah and Arshdeep Singh.
Ireland: Coach Heinrich Malan wants his players to believe that they can beat India. The Irish are known to be surprise favorites, something they did in the last Twenty20 World Cup in Australia in 2022 when they beat eventual champions England. They beat Pakistan less than a month ago and their ability to surprise the strong opponents is something India must be wary of. Wicketkeeper Lorcan Tucker is a dangerous player.
Probable XI: Andy Balbirnie, Paul Stirling (c), Lorcan Tucker, Harry Tector, Curtis Campher, George Dockrell, Gareth Delany, Mark Adair, Barry McCarthy, Craig Young/Ben White, Josh Little
Did you know?
- Since the last T20 World Cup, India have played 28 T20Is. The four senior players - Rohit Sharma (3), Virat Kohli, Ravindra Jadeja and Jasprit Bumrah (2 games each) - have largely been missing from these contests
- Virat Kohli averages 81.50 in T20 World Cups, scoring at a strike rate of 131.30. In run-chases, his average goes up to 270.50
What they said
"In a Playing XI and in a T20 game, there'll always be that one or two slots that you might make the odd change. In general, we are quite settled with a combination in our heads, though I haven't announced it or I haven't said it. You know, honestly, we are very clear about the direction we're going in, the direction was going in, but we've picked a squad, you know, that allows us to maybe make those one or two changes based on the condition" - Rahul Dravid on the India XI for the game.
