IND vs IRE: Rohit Sharma ruled out of Pakistan clash? India captain provides colossal update on his injury

The Rohit Sharma-led India National Cricket Team opened their ICC Men's T20 World Cup 2024 campaign with the battle against the Paul Stirling-led Ireland National Cricket Team. The match between the Group A teams was hosted by Nassau County International Cricket Stadium in New York on Wednesday, June 5.

India National Cricket Team comprehensively defeated the Irish Team by 8 wickets with 46 balls remaining as they chased the small 97-run target, riding on Rohit Sharma's half-century and Rishabh Pant's good 36-run innings. In the match, India suffered a huge blow when Rohit got retired hurt. He was hit on the upper arm by a delivery from Josh Little in the ninth over and decided to leave the field after some time.

Speaking after registering a victory, Rohit Sharma provided a huge update on his injury. He said that there was nothing major but his arm was sore. He said:

"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."

Speaking further about the pitch, Rohit Sharma said that it didn't settle down even in the second innings. He stated:

"I don't think the wicket settled down even when we batted second. There was enough for the bowlers. That's pretty much what you gotta do. Try to hit those lengths consistently. All these guys have played a lot of Test cricket. Arshdeep is the only guy who hasn't. His two wickets upfront set the tone for us."

Rohit Sharma added that the pitch wasn't the one where they could deploy their spin-bowling strategy. He said:

"Don't think we can play four spinners here (laughs). When we picked the team, we wanted to have the balance. If conditions are there for seamers, we wanted to have that. Spin will play a part later on. Today was a four-seamer pitch and we still managed to get two spinners who are allrounders. I don't know what to expect from the pitch to be honest."

Rohit Sharma signed off by talking about India vs Pakistan clash. He said that they will prepare for the blockbuster game according to the conditions. Rohit Sharma said:

"We will prepare as if the conditions are going to be like this (for Pakistan game). This is going to be a kind of game where all XI of us will need to contribute. It was scratchy, but good to spend some time in the middle and understand what kind of shots to play there."

What Happened In The Previous T20 World Cup Meeting Between India And Ireland

The only previous meeting between India and Ireland in T20 World Cups came way back in the year 2009. It was the 12th match of the ICC Men's T20 World Cup 2009 that was being played at the Trent Bridge in Nottingham. The only surviving member from that game who featured in the 2024 IND vs IRE clash is Rohit Sharma.

Talking about the 18-over-a-side game, India won the toss and elected to bowl first. The decision proved to be a terrific one for the side as Zaheer Khan ran through the batting order. Other than Zaheer Khan's 4-wicket haul, Pragyan Ojha got two wickets and Harbhajan Singh got one as India restricted the opposition to 112/8.

India were perfect in chasing down the moderate total as Rohit Sharma (52) and Gautam Gambhir (37) took the team off to a great start. MS Dhoni (14) and Yuvraj Singh (3) also chipped in as India won the match by 8 wickets with 15 balls remaining and they handed Ireland their first defeat in Twenty20 internationals.