Ireland vs India: Gareth Delany eager to battle Surya Kumar Yadav and Bhuvneshwar Kumar

Bhuvneshwar Kumar. Pic/AFP

As much as India's players are eager to take on Ireland in the upcoming series and stake their claims for a T20 World Cup spot, Ireland's very own cricketers can't wait to test themselves against one of the best teams in the world.

All-rounder Gareth Delany is relishing the prospect of facing two India players in particular, Surya Kumar Yadav and Bhuvneshwar Kumar. The former has established himself as an explosive, 360-degree batsman, while the latter is coming into this tour having won the Player of the Series accolade against South Africa.

According to IANS, Delany who is an aggressive batter and leg-spinner said in an official release,"It'd be really cool to bowl to Surya Kumar Yadav. He's an incredibly talented batter who can play 360 degrees and mix it up between power and finesse. Bhuvneshwar Kumar is also one of the world's best new-ball bowlers in T20 and has a very low economy rate for T20 cricket, so it would be a good challenge to go against someone of his calibre."

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Delany added,"It's an incredibly exciting opportunity to go against the world's best as we start off our international summer of fixtures. It'll be a very stiff challenge against some of the best players in this format but it's very exciting all the same. Hopefully, we'll be able to put in two strong performances."

For Ireland, this series is an opportunity to see how much they have been able to evolve after they seemed stuck playing an outdated brand of cricket which saw them unable to qualify for the Super 12 stage of last year's World T20 event.

(With inputs from IANS)