India begin their 2024 T20 World Cup campaign with a match against Ireland at the Nassau County Stadium in New York. There will be quite a few questions that will be answered when Rohit Sharma announces his team at the toss, most notable of which would be whether it will be Virat Kohli or Yashasvi Jaiswal who will be his opening partner.
Rohit and Kohli will be desperate to win the title. Both players were part of India’s last victory in an International Cricket Council (ICC) tournament back in 2013 and since then, they have both endured disappointments as players and captains. Rohit especially turned 37 earlier this year, which means this could very much be his last chance to win his second T20 World Cup title, having won his first all the way back in the inaugural edition of the tournament in 2007.
Then there is the additional storyline of departing head coach and India batting great Rahul Dravid. Under the former India skipper, India put together a dominant team in the 2023 World Cup that bulldozed teams throughout the tournament before falling in the final. India have also been among the strongest Test teams in the world but lost the World Test Championship final against Australia last year as well. Dravid has said that he won’t be continuing in the role after the tournament, which makes the T20 World Cup in the USA and the West Indies his last chance to win an ICC title as the senior Indian team’s head coach.
Head-to-head record
India and Ireland have faced each other seven times, and the former have won on all occasions. In fact, India have never lost any kind of international fixture against Ireland, having won all three ODIs that the two sides have played in as well. Former Ireland captain Andrew Balbirnie is the highest run scorer in this fixture in T20Is with 156 runs in six innings 138.05. India’s Deepak Hooda is second with 151 runs in just two innings at a strike rate of 175.58. Rohit is third and the highest run scorer among players who will be playing in New York, having scored 149 runs in three innings at a strike rate of 137.96. Meanwhile, Kuldeep Yadav, Yuzvendra Chahal and Craig Young are tied for most wickets in this fixture at seven. Jasprit Bumrah is second with six wickets.