India take on Ireland in a two-match T20I series at the Malahide Cricket Ground Club in the lead-up to the much-anticipated full tour against England next month.
When are the T20I matches and how to watch them live in India
The first T20I between India and Ireland will be played on Wednesday, June 27, while the second and final match will be held on Friday, June 29.
Sony Six and Sony Six HD will provide live television coverage of the match in India. The live stream will be available on Sony Liv.
Squads
India: Virat Kohli (c), Shikhar Dhawan, Rohit Sharma, Lokesh Rahul, Suresh Raina, Manish Pandey, MS Dhoni (wk), Hardik Pandya, Dinesh Karthik (wk), Yuzvendra Chahal, Kuldeep Yadav, Washington Sundar, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Jasprit Bumrah, Siddarth Kaul, Umesh Yadav.
Ireland: Gary Wilson (c), Andrew Balbirnie, Peter Chase, George Dockrell, Joshua Little, Andy McBrine, Kevin O Brien, William Porterfield, Stuart Poynter, Boyd Rankin, James Shannon, Simi Singh, Paul Stirling, Stuart Thompson.
How to watch India vs Ireland T20Is on TV outside India
- UK: Sky Sports Main Event, Sky Sports Cricket; Live stream: Sky Go
- South Africa: SuperSport 6; Live stream: Watch SuperSport
- UAE: OSN Sports Cricket
What to expect from the two-match T20I series
Virat Kohli's Team India will begin a new season, which will have a lot of stern challenges for them. The English summer is going to be a big test for the Asian giants who have dominated across all three formats over the last few years.
Before a full tour — consisting three T20Is, as many ODIs and five Tests — against England, India will be warming up in Dublin in the said two-match series against the minnows.
The third-ranked T20I team are expected to thrash their 17th-ranked opponents but the short series will provide India much-needed time to get their combinations right.
What will India's middle-order look like?
While the opening slot is set for Shikhar Dhawan and Rohit Sharma, the likes of KL Rahul, Suresh Raina, Manish Pandey, and Dinesh Karthik will be vying for the middle-order spots in the absence of Ajinkya Rahane and injured Kedar Jadhav.
Rahul is expected to walk into the side after his performances in the recently-concluded Indian Premier League (IPL) season with Kings XI Punjab. Destructive T20 batsman Raina might get the nod ahead of Karthik despite the latter's recent showings in the shortest format of the game.
Wrist-spinners Yuzvendra Chahal and Kuldeep Yadav will operate in tandem at the expense of young and talented Washington Sundar as Kohli would want his wreckers-in-chief to get a taste of the conditions early in the tour.
All eyes will be on Kohli's selection of his pace unit as it will be interesting to see if India go with their trusted duo of Bumrah and Bhuvneshwar in Ireland as they will be wary of the workload their all-format bowlers will have during the England series. The likes of Kaul and Umesh may get the nod after their productive IPL seasons.
Predicted playing XI: Kohli (c) Rohit, Dhawan, Rahul, Raina, Dhoni (wk), Pandya, Kuldeep, Chahal, Umesh, Kaul.
India left for Dublin on Tuesday after having a practice session in London on Monday. The likes of Kohli, Rahul and the opening duo had a hit at the nets at the Merchants Taylor School while Umesh and Bhuvneshwar along with Pandya honed their bowling skills.
