Team India must be accustomed to the conditions at Nassau County International Cricket Stadium in New York where they will be meeting Ireland on Wednesday in their opening match of the ongoing T20I World Cup 2024 to kickstart their campaign. This match marks the beginning of India’s quest to reclaim their dominance on the international stage and break a decade-long ICC title drought. India’s struggle to win the world title goes on but this tournament provides them with the opportunity to make their comeback strongly.

India will be aiming for a strong start, recognizing the importance of momentum in this highly competitive tournament. A victory in the opening game will enhance players’ confidence and help the team set the tone for the rest of the competition.

The last decade has been a challenging period for team India in terms of world titles as they have been unsuccessful in winning them despite consistent performances. India have not secured an ICC trophy since their Champions Trophy win in 2013. This drought has been an overarching concern for the team. Going into this match, India would want their top-order batters such as Virat Kohli, Suryakumar Yadav and Rohit Sharma to create early pressure on Ireland to have the fruitful outcome in the end. 

Big boost for team India has been the return of Rishabh Pant, who will be donning the Indian jersey in an official game for the first time since surviving the horrifying car crash accident in December 2022. For India’s bowling, Jasprit Bumrah, with his unplayable deliveries, and Kuldeep Yadav, with his uncanny spin attack, will further boost team’s confidence. 

India are also assured to face a formidable challenge from Ireland as they can turn out to be quite unpredictable. Spinner Joshua Little will be a huge threat to the Indian batters while Andrew Balbirnie, Paul Stirling and Harry Tector will hope to give a befitting response to Indian bowlers. 

Head to Head 

Matches - 8

IND Won - 7

IRE Won - 0

NR - 1

India Probable XI: Rohit Sharma (c), Virat Kohli, Suryakumar Yadav, Shivam Dube, Rishabh Pant (wk), Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, Kuldeep Yadav, Arshdeep Singh, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj

Ireland Probable XI: Andy Balbirnie, Paul Stirling (c), Lorcan Tucker (wk), Harry Tector, Curtis Campher, George Dockrell, Gareth Delany, Mark Adair, Barry McCarthy, Josh Little, Ben White