IRE vs IND: Hardik Pandya led India will look to flex bench strength on Irish tour

Hardik Pandya

India head into the 2-match T20I series against Ireland with the momentum gained from the drawn South Africa series. These two games present India's fringe players a chance to stake a late claim for a World T20 squad place, while the regulars like Hardik Pandya, Ishan Kishan, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, etc will want to fine tune their skills in the build up to the much vaunted event in Australia.

Other big talking points include possible debuts for explosive top-order batter Rahul Tripathi and extreme pacer Umran Malik. Fans will be quite excited to see the x-factor duo get their much deserved shot in India colours.

While the make-up of the Indian eleven largely remains a mystery, Surya Kumar Yadav is likely to slot straight back in to the no.3 spot after missing the South Africa series. The number four spot will be a shoot-out between Sanju Samson, Tripathi and Deepak Hooda, all offering the side slightly different skill-sets.

Dinesh Karthik is likely to take over wicket-keeping duties while continuing with his finisher role alongside skipper Pandya. The latter will also want to stake his claims as a plausible long-term captaincy option for Team India.

Also Read: Rohit Sharma tests Covid-19 positive ahead of England series

Bhuvneshwar, Harshal Patel, Yuzvendra Chahal, Avesh Khan, and Axar Patel all played every game against the Proteas and might be the same combination used in Ireland considering the fact that Rahul Dravid didn't tinker with the playing eleven throughout the previous series. However, Malik's sheer pace might tempt the selection panel to differ from the norm.

Ravi Bishnoi could come in for Chahal who seems a lock-in for T20 World Cup squad. Left-armer Arshdeep Singh is the other pacer in the squad who demonstrated exemplary death bowling skills in the IPL.

Ireland meanwhile come into the series having last played a T20I game in February. In their last outing, they lost a quadrangular series finals against UAE. They may be a bit rusty, but they'll be looking to put their best foot forward and test this India team just as they have tested many a full-member nation in the past, dealing some shocking losses to them. It's also worth noting that they beat West Indies in their last ODI series earlier this year.