Ireland Vs India, 2018: 1st T20I - Irish Bowl First

On Wednesday (June 27) evening hosts Ireland won the toss and decided to field first in the first Twenty20 International at The Village in Dublin against Virat Kohli-led Men in Blue.

Take a look at the pitch for the first T20I against Ireland.#IREvIND pic.twitter.com/0q8PKQgN1h

— BCCI (@BCCI) June 27, 2018

Here is what the captains said:

Gary Wilson:

“We are going to have a bowl. This looks like a good wicket. It is a very hard ground to defend so that played a big part in a decision. Preparation have been good, we had four games in Holland and a game against Sussex,” excited Wilson said at the toss time.

Virat Kohli:

“We would have bowled first as well. Looking at the wicket, I think it is going to play really well. It is going to come out on bat nicely. We practised in London for a day and we practised here yesterday,” passionate Kohli maintained.

 

“We have played the format enough, we played IPL for two months, so we don’t need to practise much as we are used to it. Weather is something that we took time in getting used to. The wind is very cool so it a good change from heat back home. My neck is absolute fine, I was 70% a month ago but now I am fit and fine..”

Match Preview:

While the Indian team management has made it clear that every game is equally important for them, there is absolutely no denying that all the eyes are on the upcoming tour of England.

So, it would not be wrong to say that Kohli and his men would use the short trip to Ireland for some much-needed acclimatization time ahead of their two-month-long tour of England.

India will definitely start the game as firm favourites. However, they should avoid complacency against a side which knows how to spring a surprise every now and then.

But a few days ago, they showed what they are capable of with a stunning display against Pakistan in their first-ever Test. And they’ll approach the two match-series against India eager to prove that they are able competitors.

The mood in Dublin ahead of the game ??#IREvIND #TeamIndia pic.twitter.com/g393jFlA4v

— BCCI (@BCCI) June 27, 2018

Also, here’s the Playing eleven starting off from Irish team:

Ireland:

Gary Wilson(c), Paul Stirling, James Shannon, Andrew Balbirnie, Simi Singh, Stuart Poynter(w), Kevin O Brien, Stuart Thompson, George Dockrell, Boyd Rankin and Peter Chase.

India:

Shikhar Dhawan, Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli(c), Suresh Raina, Manish Pandey, MS Dhoni(w), Hardik Pandya, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Kuldeep Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah and Yuzvendra Chahal