Critics may call him ‘old wine in a new bottle’ but India’s superstar cricketers would leave no stone unturned to erase the regret of not winning an ICC trophy for years and will begin their mission in the T20 World Cup with the first match against Ireland on Wednesday.
There are still many unanswered questions in the Indian team, such as what will be the team combination on the ‘drop in’ pitch here? It is clear from the matches played here so far that runs are not going to be piled up here like in the Indian Premier League. An even bigger concern is the tag of being a strong contender for the title. Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli have been members of the World Cup winning team, but cricketers like Jasprit Bumrah and Ravindra Jadeja, who are considered ‘one in a decade’, have not won the title yet and they are desperate for it.
The Indian cricket team does not want to become like the Brazilian football team of 1982 and 1986 when even stars like Socrates, Zico, Careca, Falcao and Alemao could not win the FIFA World Cup. After the ODI World Cup final last year, while climbing the stairs of the dressing room of the Narendra Modi Stadium, captain Rohit Sharma could not hide his tears. At the same time, sadness could be clearly seen on the face of Kohli who scored 765 runs.
Sometimes the best players together do not make the best team. India has expressed faith in its experienced players but it should not be forgotten that this same team has often failed to break the last two spells. This is the last World Cup for 37-year-old Rohit and it is almost certain that he will not play till the next T20 World Cup to be held in India and the 50-over World Cup to be held in South Africa in 2027. On the other hand, Ireland’s team has good T20 cricketers like Paul Stirling, Josh Little, Harry Tector, Andy Balbirnie.
It will be interesting to see how the Indian team plays Ireland’s left-arm spinner George Dockrell on the slow and average wicket of Nassau County Ground. India has the advantage of having better spinners than Ireland, although apart from Bumrah, the fast bowling attack looks a bit weak. Sometimes having too many options is not a good situation and this is what is happening with India at the top order.
Yashasvi Jaiswal may have to stay out for captain Rohit and Kohli. Rishabh Pant batted at number three in the practice match and Hardik Pandya bowled well. Pandya bowled well to Kohli, Suryakumar Yadav and Rohit in the practice session. If he can bowl even three overs per day, then Shivam Dubey and an additional spinner can be included in the Indian team. Ireland cannot be underestimated as it defeated Pakistan on its home ground before the World Cup. Little also has the experience of playing IPL for Gujarat Titans.
Teams
India: Rohit Sharma (captain), Hardik Pandya, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Virat Kohli, Suryakumar Yadav, Rishabh Pant, Sanju Samson, Shivam Dube, Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, Yuzvendra Chahal, Arshdeep Singh, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj.
Ireland: Paul Stirling (captain), Mark Adair, Ross Adair, Andrew Balbirnie, Curtis Campher, Gareth Delany, George Dockrell, Graham Hume, Josh Little, Barry McCarthy, Neil Rock, Harry Tector, Lorcan Tucker, Ben White, Craig Young
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