The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) have announced the squad for the T20I series against Ireland. India will be touring to Ireland to play a two-match T20I series on the 26th and 28th of June.
Since the Indian team will be playing a one-off Test against England at the same time, they will be going with the second-string team. The T20I team for the Ireland series will be led by Hardik Pandya, who led Gujarat Titans to the IPL title.
The Indian all-rounder will be leading the Indian side for the first time. He had a good amount of rest to recover from an injury before making a strong comeback in the recently concluded IPL.
He is currently a part of the T20I team for the five-match T20I series against South Africa. The wicket-keeper batsman, Rishabh Pant is currently leading the T20I side in the absence of regular skippers, Rohit Sharma and KL Rahul.
The Indian team will not be having the services of the main players like Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma, KL Rahul and Rishabh Pant. So, they have made their next best player, Hardik Pandya their skipper.
The BCCI has also made huge changes in the squad for the T20I series. Rahul Tripathi, who had an impressive IPL season, has earned his maiden national call-up.
Suryakumar Yadav and Sanju Samson have returned to the side. On the other hand, the young pacers – Arshdeep Singh and Umran Malik, who have been part of the South Africa series, have retained their slots.
Meanwhile, India is currently playing the five-match T20I series against South Africa. After losing the first two games against the visitors, the hosts made a strong comeback in the 3rd game to stay alive in the series.
India’s T20I squad for Ireland tour:
Hardik Pandya (Captain), Bhuvneshwar Kumar (vice-captain), Ishan Kishan, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Sanju Samson, Suryakumar Yadav, Venkatesh Iyer, Deepak Hooda, Rahul Tripathi, Dinesh Karthik (wicket-keeper), Yuzvendra Chahal, Axar Patel, Ravi Bishnoi, Harshal Patel, Avesh Khan, Arshdeep Singh, Umran Malik