ICC Men's T20 World Cup: Probable Playing XI: India vs Ireland

The stage is all set for the opening game of one of the favourite teams to lift the trophy of the 9th edition of the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup, where India are going to play their first game today against Ireland at the newly built New York Cricket Stadium in USA. It will be the first time after January that Men in Blue will be playing a T20I match, as the last T20I game played was against Afghanistan after the Indian team played a 5-match Test Series against England and took part in the IPL from their respective franchise.

No doubt! It will be interesting to see how the 2007 title winners start their tournament against a side who are coming to this game after defeating India's arch-rival Pakistan in the opening game of the 3-match-T20Is series and performing well in the Netherlands Tri-series between Dutch, Ireland and Scotland. However, the Indian team defeated Bangladesh in the warm-up by 60 runs. But, still, some questions need to be answered by the Men in Blue before coming into the main event related to India's playing 11, as there is a lot of debate going on whether Virat Kohli should play at his number 3 position or just like the Indian Premier League he should open the innings with the Indian Captain Rohit Sharma to give a flying start to Men in Blue. However, there are also talks of Yashasvi Jaiswal, a young left-handed batsman opening the innings with skipper as, the left and right-hand combination. Apart from that, there is also the decision Rohit and Co. need to take between Sanju Samson and Rishabh Pant, to pick one of them as a wicketkeeper batter before heading towards the tournament as both are coming into the marquee event after performing well in the IPL from their respective teams and Shivam Dube's roles remain spotless.

India have won four out of their last five matches, losing only one. But which players will be in the spotlight?

Let's know the probable playing XI of both the teams:

India's Probable XI for T20 World Cup 2024 match against Ireland 

Rohit Sharma (c), Virat Kohli, Rishabh Pant, Suryakumar Yadav, Shivam Dube, Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah and Arshdeep Singh.

Virat Kohli likely to open with Rohit Sharma

Virat Kohli, who is coming to the ICC Men's T20 World Cup 024 after scoring most runs in IPL 2024 as an opener for the Bangalore-based franchise, would likely carry his sublime form in the main event as the opener for Men in Blue. Seeing Virat's consistency in the IPL 2024 throughout the tournament makes him the right choice to open the innings for the Indian team, where he has a strike rate of 160 plus in the powerplay.

The opening combo of Kohli-Rohit's experience would definitely put pressure on the opposition during the initial stage of the match.

Shivam Dube at Number 4 

We can see the Indian Mr. 360, Suryakumar Yadav, to bat at number 3, if Virat Kohli opens the innings with Rohit, Yadav is the right candidate to take the Indian innings forward after Rohit-Kohli. Shivam Dube can be seen playing at number 4, who is good against spin bowlers.

Jasprit Bumrah and Arshdeep Singh are expected to share the new ball, meaning that Mohammed Siraj will miss out on a place in the starting XI.

Ireland Probable XI for T20 World Cup 2024 match against India

Paul Stirling (c), Andrew Balbirnie, Lorcan Tucker, Harry Tector, Curtis Campher, George Dockrell, Gareth Delany, Mark Adair, Barry McCarthy, Craig Young, Ben White

Apart from skipper Paul Stirling, Andrew Balbirnie, Harry Tector and Lorcan Tucker will be the main players for Ireland's batting success.  However, the eyes will also be on Ireland's all-rounder duo of Curtis Campher and George Dockrell, who have played several match-winning knocks down the order while picking key wickets in the middle overs.

Joshua Little could be a threat to the Indian top-order, as the captain Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli don't have a great record against Left-arm fast bowlers. 

Nassau Stadium Pitch Report

The match will be played at the newly built New York Cricket Stadium also known as  Nassau County International Cricket Stadium, where it is slightly difficult for a batsman to play. The outfield is made from Kentucky bluegrass, and the drop-in pitches composed of Tahoma bermudagrass, are crafted under the guidance of Damian Hough from Adelaide Oval.

However, Considering the strength of both teams, we will be going with the Indian team.