A dominant India kickstarted their T20 World Cup with a eight-wicket win over Ireland after skittling the opposition on a paltry total of 96. Skipper Rohit Sharma (52), who retired hurt late in the innings, anchored the chase on a tricky pitch at the Nassau County International Cricket Stadium in New York where a slow outfield made run-making even more difficult.
With all eyes on what opening combination India were going to field in the World Cup, Rohit walked in alongside Virat Kohli (1) to face the opening Irish attack. While Rohit had a reprieve in the first over where a regulation take was dropped by the second slip, Kohli departed trying to manufacture shots on the tacky track.
The Indian team management pushed Rishabh Pant (36*) at no. 3 to join forces with Rohit. The pair took a circumspect route after the initial wicket before Rohit got the hang of the pitch and started hitting his strokes. He reached his half century in 36 balls before retiring hurt after being hit flush on the shoulder.
Suryakumar Yadav, in at no. 4 attempted to keep up with the scoring rate but miscued a tossed up delivery from Benjamin White straight to deep midwicket for an easy catch. However, Pant completed the formalities by reverse whipping a length ball on the stumps straight behind the wicketkeeper’s head for a six.
India keep Ireland in check
Earlier, Rohit won the toss and elected to bowl first in the overcast conditions. While pundits anticipated some seam and swing, the dual nature of the pitch came as a mild shock to both sides as the ball took off from length on multiple occasions.
“Yeah, just a little sore (the arm). I said it at the toss as well. Quite unsure of what to expect from the pitch. Not aware on what it is to play like on a pitch that’s five months old,” said Rohit at the post-match presentation.
“I don’t think the wicket settled down even when we batted second. There was enough for the bowlers.”
India struck early in the third over as Arshdeep Singh sent opposition captain Paul Stirling back to the hut who miscued a pull shot straight up in the air. Rishabh Pant, playing his first match in Indian colours after 17 months, pouched the difficult catch without any fuss.
Only four Irish batters were able to get into double figures as Indian bowlers dominated the proceedings. If it wasn’t for the pyrotechnics from Gareth Delany and Joshua Little at the back end of the innings, the Irish scorecard could’ve worn an even more sorry look.
While India played a thorough all-round game, the fans were still disappointed by the management for not picking Kuldeep Yadav in the squad. Additionally, fans online were not happy with ICC for conducting match on a ground where the conditions did not encourage proper contest between both facets of the game.
Since the Nassau County Stadium was developed from scratch in the last few months, drop-in pitches that were prepared in Australia and later curated in Florida have been used for the two matches. The outfield has also been laid down artificially which means the ball cannot zip through the surface when the batter strokes it.