For years, teams like Scotland and Ireland have requested to make a small stopover in their backyard and play against their national sides, which would give them exposure. More often than not, that has fallen on deaf ears. But India, the three-time T20 World Cup winners, visit the Irish shores to take on the Men in Green, which will be a true test for them.
However, this tour not just gives Ireland an opportunity to test themselves against the No. 1-ranked side but also for India to test out a few players. On top of that list is Vaibhav Sooryavanshi.
Sooryavanshi debut?
Sooryavanshi has been at the centre of attention for some time now. He has been a top performer at the Under-19 and the A levels, and it has further spilt down to the Indian Premier League (IPL), where he finished with the Orange Cap in 2026. The audacity of someone as young as 15 to take on some of the best bowlers in the world has left everyone in awe.
He will take the next step on June 26 and 28, when he makes his international debut against Ireland. Boasting of a strike rate of 220.44 in 34 innings, with six fifties and four centuries, he has shown he belongs at the highest level. Whether or not he will live up to it will be seen.
“Credit to him, he’s a pretty special player. We’re hoping we’ll see him this week, it will be a big moment for him, but it would be great to spoil that party for him,” Ireland captain Lorcan Tucker said, ahead of the series opener in Belfast.
“Most of the hype here has been about him making his debut in this series. He’s obviously an absolutely incredible talent, he blew the IPL up and we’ve tried to do as much research as we can on him.”
Not just Sooryavanshi, it will also be the first time Shreyas Iyer will lead India, giving him ample time to have a set team in place ahead of the 2028 T20 World Cup.
With no Jasprit Bumrah, it gives an opportunity for Prasidh Krishna and Prince Yadav to show what they’ve got, and moreover, the return of Harshit Rana from injury further boosts India’s all-rounder stocks, which have been depleted with injuries to Nitish Kumar Reddy and Hardik Pandya.
Ireland’s injury woes
However, one must not make the mistake of taking Ireland lightly. Tucker was appointed their new skipper and in his first series in charge, he has been handed plenty of injury blows, including their lading run-getter, Paul Stirling (Torn calf muscle) and their leading wicket-taker, Mark Adair (Rectus muscle tear).
To add to their woes, Josh Little, Curtis Campher, Barry McCarthy and Jordan Neill were unavailable due to injuries. With Ireland’s fast bowling stocks taking such a massive hit, they have gotten reinforcements in the form of Matthew Hollard, Reuben Wilson and the Rajasthan-born left-arm pacer Jai Moondra.
The weather could play spoilsport at least in the first game, which could frustrate both sets of players. The temperatures are expected to be between 18-23°C.
Ireland are yet to beat India in white-ball cricket. They have lost all eight matches against India in T20Is, with the last one coming at the T20 World Cup 2024 in New York.
This will be both teams’ first match since the end of the T20 World Cup 2026. While India defended their title successfully, Ireland managed just one win in the tournament.
Squads:
Ireland: Lorcan Tucker (c), Ross Adair, Ben Calitz, Gareth Delany, George Dockrell, Stephen Doheny, Matthew Humphreys, Gavin Hoey, Matthew Hollard, Liam McCarthy, Jai Moondra, Harry Tector, Tim Tector, Reuben Wilson
India: Shreyas Iyer (c), Tilak Varma (vc), Abhishek Sharma, Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, Suryansh Shedge, Sanju Samson, Ishan Kishan, Shivam Dube, Suryansh Shedge, Axar Patel, Washington Sundar, Ravi Bishnoi, Arshdeep Singh, Harshit Rana, Prince Yadav, Prasidh Krishna
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