After the truncated first T20I on Sunday, in which India emerged victorious by seven wickets, the Hardik Pandya-led side will be eyeing the series win over a spirited Ireland at Malahide in Dublin on Tuesday.
With Pandya stressing after the first match that India are firmly focusing on the road to Men's T20 World Cup, to be hosted by Australia in October-November, they will be keen to test more players in the second T20I.
India may also have to make a forced change if Ruturaj Gaikwad, who did not open the batting on Sunday due to a calf niggle, doesn't recover in time with just a day's gap between the two T20Is. The visitors will be pleased by the economical spells bowled by Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Yuzvendra Chahal in restricting Ireland to 108-4 apart from Deepak Hooda shining as a makeshift opener and Pandya providing fireworks with the bat.
On the other hand, Ireland gave a good account of themselves against a strong opposition like India, especially with young Harry Tector enthralling the capacity crowd with an unbeaten 33-ball 64, striking six fours and three sixes at a high strike rate of 193.94 and taking the hosts from 22-3 inside four overs to 108-4 in a 12-overs-per-side match. With the ball, pacer Craig Young did well with 2/18 in two overs.
They would want for experienced batters like Paul Stirling and captain Andrew Balbirnie to step up.
With showers expected to impact the match yet again as per the weather forecast, expect a truncated affair between India and Ireland in front of a full house, again.
India: Hardik Pandya (captain), Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Ishan Kishan, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Sanju Samson, Suryakumar Yadav, Venkatesh Iyer, Deepak Hooda, Rahul Tripathi, Dinesh Karthik (wicketkeeper), Yuzvendra Chahal, Axar Patel, Ravi Bishnoi, Harshal Patel, Avesh Khan, Arshdeep Singh and Umran Malik
Ireland: Andrew Balbirnie (captain), Mark Adair, Curtis Campher, Gareth Delany, George Dockrell, Stephen Doheny, Josh Little, Andrew McBrine, Barry McCarthy, Conor Olphert, Paul Stirling, Harry Tector, Lorcan Tucker and Craig Young
When: June 28 (Tuesday)
Where to Watch: SONY SIX (English), SONY TEN 3 (Hindi) & SONY TEN 4 (Tamil & Telugu) channels .
Live Streaming: Sony LIV
Timing: 9:00 pm IST onwards
