A second-string Indian team will be up against Ireland in the three-match T20I series starting Friday, August 18. While a three-match T20I series in the build of an ODI World Cup doesn't make much sense, for India however, it has become important for a couple of reasons. The series marks the return of speedster Jasprit Bumrah after 11 months and fellow pacer Prasidh Krishna after a year to competitive cricket and it will also be the first assignment for Ruturaj Gaikwad as part of the leadership group.
Gaikwad, who will be leading a second-string side at the 19th Asian Games next month, is vice-captain for the series while Bumrah is named the captain on return. The series will also give the chance to the Indian team to test their bench strength given Rinku Singh and Jitesh Sharma might potentially make their debuts while the likes of Shivam Dube and Washington Sundar are returning to the national time after quite some time.
For Ireland, it is an opportunity to hurt the Indian team even further as even though a few players are not part of the squad that played the West Indies series, it is still an inexperienced squad at the highest level and the hosts could benefit from it big time.
Here's all you need to know about the three-match India vs Ireland T20I series:
Full Schedule
1st T20I - Friday, August 18
2nd T20I - Sunday, August 20
3rd T20I - Wednesday, August 23
Squads
India: Jasprit Bumrah (Captain), Ruturaj Gaikwad, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Tilak Varma, Rinku Singh, Washington Sundar, Shivam Dube, Shahbaz Ahmed, Sanju Samson, Jitesh Sharma, Ravi Bishnoi, Prasidh Krishna, Arshdeep Singh, Mukesh Kumar, Avesh Khan
Ireland: Paul Stirling (Captain), Andrew Balbirnie, Ross Adair, Harry Tector, Gareth Delany, Curtis Campher, George Dockrell, Fionn Hand, Lorcan Tucker (WK), Mark Adair, Joshua Little, Barry McCarthy, Theo van Woerkom, Benjamin White, Craig Young
Live streaming and telecast
All three matches will have a 7:30 PM IST start (3 pm local time) and will take place in Dublin. The India-Ireland series will have a live broadcast on Sports18 channel on TV and the live streaming of the games will be available for free on the JioCinema app and website.
