India v Ireland: Hardik Pandya-led visitors eye series win over spirited hosts

DUBLIN: After the truncated first T20I on Sunday, in which India emerged victorious by seven wickets, the Hardik Pandya-led side will be eyeing the series win over a spirited Ireland on Tuesday at Malahide.

With Pandya stressing after the first match that India are firmly focusing on the road to Men's T20 World Cup, to be hosted by Australia in October-November, they will be keen to test more players in the second T20I. With Umran Malik being handed a debut, he could be expected to continue in the eleven despite leaking 14 runs in the lone over he bowled.

India may also have to make a forced change if Ruturaj Gaikwad, who did not open the batting on Sunday due to a calf niggle, doesn't recover in time with just a day's gap between the two T20Is. The visitors will be pleased by the economical spells bowled by Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Yuzvendra Chahal in restricting Ireland to 108/4 apart from Deepak Hooda shining as a makeshift opener and Pandya providing fireworks with the bat.

On the other hand, Ireland gave a good account of themselves against a strong opposition like India, especially with young Harry Tector enthralling the capacity crowd with an unbeaten 33-ball 64, striking six fours and three sixes at a high strike rate of 193.94 and taking the hosts from 22/3 inside four overs to 108/4 in a 12-overs-per-side match. With the ball, pacer Craig Young did well with 2/18 in two overs.

They would want for experienced batters like Paul Stirling and captain Andrew Balbirnie to step up. Ireland will also need for pacer Joshua Little and off-spinner Andy McBrine to improve their performance after being taken for runs by the Indian batters. With showers expected to impact the match yet again as per the weather forecast, expect a truncated affair between India and Ireland in front of a full house, again.

The squads:

Ireland: Andrew Balbirnie (captain), Mark Adair, Curtis Campher, Gareth Delany, George Dockrell, Stephen Doheny, Josh Little, Andrew McBrine, Barry McCarthy, Conor Olphert, Paul Stirling, Harry Tector, Lorcan Tucker and Craig Young.

India: Hardik Pandya (captain), Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Ishan Kishan, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Sanju Samson, Suryakumar Yadav, Venkatesh Iyer, Deepak Hooda, Rahul Tripathi, Dinesh Karthik (wicketkeeper), Yuzvendra Chahal, Axar Patel, Ravi Bishnoi, Harshal Patel, Avesh Khan, Arshdeep Singh and Umran Malik. (IANS)

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