India vs Ireland T20 World Cup 2024: Probable India Playing 11

Team India are once again ready for yet another edition of the T20 World Cup, however, the challenge will be a lot different this time as the tournament will be hosted in the West Indies and United States of America (USA). Interestingly, the Men in Blue were crowned as the champions of the inaugural World T20 in 2007 where they defeated arch-rivals Pakistan in the finals. In their opening match of the ICC T20 World Cup 2024, the Rohit Sharma-led team will be facing Ireland scheduled to take place at the Nassau County International Cricket Stadium in New York on 5 June, 2024. India recently registered a pretty comprehensive 60-run win over Bangladesh in their only warm-up fixture before the start of the mega event. 

India vs Ireland T20 World Cup 2024: Probable India Playing 11

Interestingly, the likes of Virat Kohli, Yashasvi Jaiswal and Yuzvendra Chahal did not featured in the solitary warm-up match against Bangladesh on Saturday. Kohli reached the United States of America on Friday due to some paper work required in India and thus, he was rested for the warm-up game while it is still unknown as to why Chahal and Jaiswal were not included in the side. While talking about the possible India playing 11 for their first match against Ireland in the ongoing 2024 ICC Men's T20 World Cup starting on Wednesday, captain Rohit Sharma mentioned that they are yet to confirm their batting line-up. 

"Quite happy with how things went, got what we wanted with the game. Important to get used to conditions. New venue, new ground and drop-in pitch. (On Pant batting at 3) Just to give him an opportunity. We haven’t nailed the batting line-up yet, we wanted most guys to get a hit in the middle. (On Arshdeep) He has shown us he has the skills upfront and also the backend, he has a very good skill set. We’ve got good 15 players here, just need to nail down the conditions and pick the best players," said Indian captain Rohit Sharma during the post-match presentation against Bangladesh. 

Yashasvi's absence in the warm-up game means that the senior duo of Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli are very much likely to open the batting in their first match against Ireland. After scoring an impressive half-century against Bangladesh on his return in national colours, wicket-keeper batsman is very much certain to find a place in the Indian side. He might come up the order at the No. 3 position with Suryakumar Yadav certain to bat at number four in this line-up. 

Despite having a very poor Indian Premier League (IPL 2024) season both with the bat and ball, Hardik Pandya made a fine comeback in the match against Bangladesh especially where he batted with an attacking mindset. It will definitely be a hard decision for the team management to pick one of Sanju Samson or Shivam Dube in the middle-order especially to bat with an aggressive approach. Both these batters failed to make a mark in the warm-up match against Bangladesh. Dube is expected to get the spot as he gives the extra bowling option in case a frontline bowlers gets injured during a match. 

While talking about the spin bowling attack, as many as four spinners have been named in India's World Cup 2024 squad namely Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav and Yuzvendra Chahal. The 2007 T20 World Cup champions are very much likely to play a total of three spinners in their playing XI for the game against Ireland. The trio of Jadeja, Kuldeep and Chahal are the most suitable picks as they give a lot of variety in the bowling attack. On the other hand, India have the option of as many as three fast bowlers in the 15-member squad, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj and Arshdeep Singh. With Hardik Pandya set to be sixth bowling option, India vs Ireland match might feature only the duo of Bumrah and Arshdeep while Siraj will have to warm the bench. India will surely be eyeing to make a positive start in their T20 World Cup 2024 campaign. 

Rohit Sharma (C), Virat Kohli, Rishabh Pant (wk), Suryakumar Yadav, Shivam Dube, Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, Kuldeep Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah, Arshdeep Singh, Yuzvendra Chahal. 

Team India squad for T20 World Cup 2024

Rohit Sharma (Captain), Hardik Pandya (Vice Captain), Yashasvi Jaiswal, Virat Kohli, Suryakumar Yadav, Rishabh Pant (WK), Sanju Samson (WK), Shivam Dube, Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, Yuzvendra Chahal, Arshdeep Singh, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj.

Travelling Reserves: Shubman Gill, Rinku Singh, Avesh Khan, Khaleel Ahmed.