India vs Ireland T20 World Cup 2024: Sanju Samson and Rishabh Pant are vying for the wicket-keeper’s spot but the latter might have won the race with his superb batting display against Bangladesh.
Indian cricket team during team activity in New York. (Image- X)
New Delhi: India will open their T20 World Cup 2024 campaign against Ireland at the Nassau County International Cricket Stadium in New York. The Men in Blue will square off against European minnows in a Group A clash which will be the eighth match of the T20 mega-event in the Americas.
India are coming on the back of an impressive win against Bangladesh in a warm-up match at the same venue. Barring a couple of poor individual performances, almost everything clicked for the inaugural champions as both batters and bowlers enjoyed a fruitful outing last weekend.
Sanju Samson came to open with skipper Rohit Sharma against the Bangladeshi Tigers while Virat Kohli and Yashasvi Jaiswal – the contenders for the second opening spot – didn’t take the field. The absence of both players has fuelled Rohit’s opening partner debate even more.
Who will open with Rohit?
The build-up to the tournament has circled around the debate about Rohit’s opening partner. Kohli and Jaiswal are competing for the second opener’s spot and it will be interesting to see who comes out to bat with the skipper. In an ideal scenario, Rohit and Jaiswal make a perfect pairing at the top of the order with the left-right combination giving added advantage. Moreover, their batting styles also complement each other. But Jaiswal is likely to be axed from the squad to make way for
Sanju Samson and Rishabh Pant are vying for the wicket-keeper’s spot but the latter might have won the race with his superb batting display against Bangladesh.
Meanwhile, Shivam Dube answered his bowling critics by picking up two wickets against the Bangladeshis which means India can afford to have two fast-bowling all-rounders in their playing XI – the other being Hardik Pandya – who shone with the bat in the warm-up tie.
It will also be interesting to see if India go with two left-arm orthodox spinners or pick Yuzvendra Chahal in place of Axar Patel to add more strength to their bowling department. Or will they include Jaiswal and go with four specialist bowlers and two fast-bowling all-rounders?
India’s likely playing XI
Rohit Sharma (c), Virat Kohli, Yashasvi Jaiswal Suryakumar Yadav, Shivam Dube, Rishabh Pant (wk), Hardik Pandya (vc), Ravindra Jadeja, Kuldeep Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah, Arshdeep Singh.
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