Experiment is the buzzword as India prepare to take on Ireland in the second and final T20 International, aiming to strike the perfect balance while ringing in the changes in Malahide on Friday.
The Men in Blue got their three-month long tour of Ireland and England off to a fine start with a 76-run win on Wednesday. Riding on half-centuries from Rohit Sharma and Shikhar Dhawan, India scored 208-5. Thereafter Kuldeep Yadav and Yuzvendra Chahal shared seven wickets to restrict the Irish to 132-9.
It indicated that India’s first-choice eleven was functioning properly after a break of three months, and tuning itself for the England tour. The big question is of bench strength and chances for the likes of KL Rahul, Dinesh Karthik and Umesh Yadav.
“we are going to do a lot of experiments in the middle order…We are looking to give everyone game-time and want them to portray the qualities they possess because many guys go on tour and never get an opportunity to play,” said skipper Virat Kohli post the first T20I.
It indicates that India have zeroed in on Rohit and Dhawan as their first-choice opening combination for the limited-overs’ leg of this tour.
It also confirms that Rahul will bat in the middle-order whenever an opportunity presents itself, and it could be as early as the next game, keeping the England series in mind.
Kohli’s mantra of giving chances to those sitting on the bench could be extended to the bowling line-up as well, where both Umesh Yadav and Siddarth Kaul are raring to go and longing for game time.
It is easily noticeable that the team management is reluctant to drop both Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Jasprit Bumrah whenever they are fit and available.
Leaving out Pandya for three full-time pacers and two spinners still gives Kohli five bowling options, enabling him to leave out Suresh Raina and Manish Pandey to bring in both Rahul and Karthik.
For Ireland, it won’t simply be a matter of turning up on the day. While the 200-plus target was far beyond their reach, they showed enough wherewithal to stick out in the middle and attempt to compete.
Asking for an upset on Friday will be too much, but they remain capable of springing a surprise or two on home soil. The biggest incentive for the hosts is another chance to play against one of the top T20 sides in the world in front of a festive and raucous crowd.
Teams:
India: Virat Kohli (c), Rohit Sharma, Shikhar Dhawan, KL Rahul, Manish Pandey, Suresh Raina, Dinesh Karthik, MS Dhoni (wk), Hardik Pandya, Kuldeep Yadav, Yuzvendra Chahal, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Jasprit Bumrah, Umesh Yadav, Siddarth Kaul.
Ireland: Gary Wilson (c & wk), Andrew Balbirnie, Peter Chase, George Dockrell , Josh Little, Andy McBrine, Kevin O’Brien, William Porterfield, Stuart Poynter, Boyd Rankin, James Shannon, Simi Singh, Paul Stirling, Stuart Thompson.
