India travel to Belfast in Northern Ireland to take on the home team (Ireland) in the first T20I of a two-match series, to be played at the Civil Service Cricket Club, on Friday, June 26. Led by Shreyas Iyer, the Indian side possess a lot of newcomers while retaining their core strength from their 2026 T20 World Cup victory. However, fans back home were surprised when captain Suryakumar Yadav was left out of the team in favour of Iyer. The latter, widely infamous for his inability to handle top-quality short-pitched bowling, was recalled from the wilderness and handed the captain's armband. Iyer last played for India in a T20I in 2023, and had been out of the squad since then.
To bring him back to the squad solely based on his performances in the Indian Premier League projects immense foresight from the selection committee, led by Ajit Agarkar. Ireland, on the other hand, have been riddled with injuries. The likes of Josh Little and Mark Adair, their best bowlers, have been ruled out with injuries. Even in the batting department, Paul Stirling has been sidelined with an injury, and this will deal a huge blow to their chances against the visitors. The home team have named wicketkeeper-batter Lorcan Tucker as their new captain in preparation for the 2028 T20 World Cup, where they expect to emerge as one of the contenders.
Nonetheless, Ireland's batting unit needs an upheaval, with the likes of Ross Adair and Gareth Delany tasked with leading from the front. George Dockrell is now a veteran in the side, and in the absence of Stirling, the only remaining member from the 2011 ODI World Cup squad (where they shocked the world by defeating England in Bangalore). He is considered a proper all-rounder now, with the ability to roll his arm over whenever Tucker wants him to. Top-order batter Harry Tector, along with his brother Tim, will also be given the responsibility of building partnerships for the home team against a top-quality Indian bowling unit.
Predicted Teams
IND: Abhishek Sharma, Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, Sanju Samson (wk), Ishan Kishan, Shreyas Iyer (c), Tilak Varma, Shivam Dube, Axar Patel, Prince Yadav, Prasidh Krishna, Arshdeep Singh.
IRE: Ross Adair, Tim Tector, Gareth Delany, Harry Tector, Lorcan Tucker (c) (wk), George Dockrell, Matthew Humphreys, Reuben Wilson, Gavin Hoey, Liam McCarthy, Matthew Hollard.
Key Players
Tilak Varma (IND): Tilak Varma was recently named the vice-captain of the Indian T20I side. Varma also led India 'A' on their tour of Sri Lanka a while ago, and emerged as one of the top batters in the triangular series. On Monday, the southpaw returned to his hometown of Hyderabad and turned out for the Medak Falcons in a local T20 franchise game and scored a match-winning century. This means that Varma is in top form and can be expected to continue scoring runs for fun against the Irish, too. His ability to combine the rotation of the strike with power-hitting makes him a dangerous player.
Harry Tector (IRE): Harry Tector has emerged as one of the best batters in this generation for Ireland. He has a calm state of mind and knows which strokes to pick against the right bowlers. Tector can also rotate the strike in the middle overs, but he is not afraid of using the long handle when the need arises. He is one of the most reliable and experienced batters for the Irish, and he will have to step up to deliver. In the absence of Paul Stirling, Tector's presence will give some reassurance to the Irish batting unit.
Match Prediction
Ireland look completely out of depth due to the absence of Adair, Little and Stirling. Tucker will do his best to rally his troops for the cause, but India are far too strong for them. The Men in Blue have covered all their bases in selecting their squad, and they are the favourites. We expect India to comfortably win this match. With Sanju Samson, Ishan Kishan, Tilak Varma and Shivam Dube in their ranks, India have an explosive batting unit. With the ball, Prasidh Krishna and Arshdeep Singh will be given the responsibility of bowling the Irish batters out as quickly as possible.