IRE vs IND: 2nd T20I Preview – India aim for a clean sweep
India will be locking horns with Ireland in the second and final T20I at the Malahide Cricket Club Ground in Dublin on June 28. After a morale-boosting seven-wicket victory in the last game, the Hardik Pandya-led side would now be hoping to seal the series with yet another emphatic win in the series-decider.
India comprehensively outplayed Ireland in all departments in the first game as they restricted them to 108/4 from 12 overs and the batters got the job done in style with more than two overs to spare. Having drawn first blood, the Men in Blue would be hoping not to get complacent in any manner.
More importantly, three of the Indian players would be desperate to regain their form after a forgettable outing in the last fixture. Suryakumar Yadav was dismissed for a golden duck while debutant Umran Malik conceded 14 runs in the only over that he got to bowl. Skipper Hardik Pandya got a brisk start, but could not finish the proceedings as he was adjudged leg before wicket for a 12-ball 24.
Ireland on the other hand failed to showcase impactful performances with the bat with only middle-order batter Harry Tector being the lone warrior scoring an unbeaten 64 runs off 33 deliveries that helped them in surpassing the 100-run mark in the first place. The bowlers did make early inroads, but failed to capitalize on the momentum thereafter.
Predicted XI for India vs Ireland
India
India might pick Sanju Samson for this contest after Ruturaj Gaikwad could not bat in the series-opener due to a calf injury. The Kerala stumper would now be looking forward to making the most of his opportunities in order to try and cement his place in the Indian T20I side. The rest of the line up remains the same.
Deepak Hooda, Ishan Kishan, Sanju Samson, Suryakumar Yadav, Hardik Pandya (c), Dinesh Karthik (wk), Axar Patel, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Avesh Khan, Yuzvendra Chahal, Umran Malik
Ireland
Ireland would most probably not be looking to make any chopping and changes in their playing XI and would rather prefer sticking to the same XI who gave a tough fight to a strong Indian team in the first game to a certain extent. They would now be hoping to showcase an improved performance in order to pull off a huge upset over the Men in Blue.
Paul Stirling, Andrew Balbirnie (c), Gareth Delany, Harry Tector, Lorcan Tucker (wk), George Dockrell, Mark Adair, Andy McBrine, Craig Young, Joshua Little, Conor Olphert
