New York: Skeptics call them 'old wine in a new bottle' but a group of superstar Indian cricketers will leave no stone unturned in breaking out of their old mold when they take on mighty Ireland in their opening match of the T20 World Cup here. Wednesday.
The team knows it's a bit half-baked and there's still a lot of confusion about what might be the best combination on a drop-in virgin strip. As is clear from the games so far, scoring will not be a walk in the park as it was during the Indian Premier League over the past few months.
But the bigger concern is the burden of being a favorite who doesn't really matter in the end.Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli have individually got their hands on global silverware, but some other 'once in a generation' cricketers, including Jasprit Bumrah and Ravindra Jadeja, have not done so and they are looking to lift it eventually. Will be eager to.
This Indian cricket team would not like to become the Brazil football team of 1982 and 86 when global stars like Socrates, Zico, Careka, Falcao and Alemao could not win the FIFA trophy.
The most poignant scene of last year's ODI World Cup was a dejected Rohit desperately trying to hide his tearful eyes from the TV cameras after the final and silently climbing the stairs to the dressing room of the Narendra Modi Stadium.
There was also Kohli, who after scoring those 765 priceless runs, could only spare a fleeting glance towards the podium where the trophy was placed.
The best players sometimes don't make the best teams and while India have relied on their most experienced player, it can't be easily ignored that this current batch has faltered at times in the last two hurdles.At the age of 37, this can be safely called Rohit's last World Cup in the white-ball format as one does not need to be Nostradamus to predict that he will be the next T20 World Cup in India and in the 50-over format. Will not be taken. World Cup in South Africa in 2027.
A very courageous Irish team, with some quality T20 players like Paul Stirling, Josh Little, Harry Tector, Andy Balbirnie, awaits India in a lung-opening match.
On the slow track and poor outfield of the Nassau County ground, it will be interesting how India plays against Irish left-arm spinner George Dockrell.
Where India have the upper hand is with their spinners, who are far better than the Irish team, although the fast bowling attack, apart from Bumrah, looks a little weak in the absence of Mohammed Shami.
Often having too many options is not the best option, as Indians have on top.To fit captain Rohit and the team's best batsman Kohli, perhaps they will have to sacrifice Yashasvi Jaiswal.
Rishabh Pant's batting at No. 3 in the practice match was like a breath of fresh air and Hardik Pandya's bowling form will be indicative of how India fare in this competition.
On Monday, at the Cantiag Park nets, Pandya spent a lot of time bowling to Kohli, Suryakumar Yadav and Rohit.
If he can bowl at least three overs every day, the Indian team can also consider playing Shivam Dubey and including an additional spinner in the line-up.
Like in earlier days, Ireland are not at all weak in this format and recently, they have defeated Pakistan in their own den ahead of the World Cup.Little has little experience of playing IPL for Gujarat Titans and the trio of Balbirnie, Stirling and Tector can do more than give their weapons a chance.
The 'Green Shirts' will be the banana peel that Rohit and his men cannot afford to wear before they meet the more famous 'Green Jerseys' at the weekend.
Teams (from):
,
India: Rohit Sharma (captain), Virat Kohli, Rishabh Pant (wicketkeeper), Suryakumar Yadav, Hardik Pandya, Shivam Dubey, Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah, Arshdeep Singh, Mohammed Siraj, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Sanju Samson, Yuzvendra Chahal.
Ireland: Paul Stirling (c), Mark Adair, Ross Adair, Andy Balbirnie, Curtis Campher, Gareth Delany, George Dockrell, Graham Hume, Josh Little*, Barry McCarthy, Neil Rock (wk), Harry Tector, Lorcan Tucker (wk). , Ben White, Craig Young.Match starts: 8 pm.
The team knows it's a bit half-baked and there's still a lot of confusion about what might be the best combination on a drop-in virgin strip. As is clear from the games so far, scoring will not be a walk in the park as it was during the Indian Premier League over the past few months.
But the bigger concern is the burden of being a favorite who doesn't really matter in the end.Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli have individually got their hands on global silverware, but some other 'once in a generation' cricketers, including Jasprit Bumrah and Ravindra Jadeja, have not done so and they are looking to lift it eventually. Will be eager to.
This Indian cricket team would not like to become the Brazil football team of 1982 and 86 when global stars like Socrates, Zico, Careka, Falcao and Alemao could not win the FIFA trophy.
The most poignant scene of last year's ODI World Cup was a dejected Rohit desperately trying to hide his tearful eyes from the TV cameras after the final and silently climbing the stairs to the dressing room of the Narendra Modi Stadium.
There was also Kohli, who after scoring those 765 priceless runs, could only spare a fleeting glance towards the podium where the trophy was placed.
The best players sometimes don't make the best teams and while India have relied on their most experienced player, it can't be easily ignored that this current batch has faltered at times in the last two hurdles.At the age of 37, this can be safely called Rohit's last World Cup in the white-ball format as one does not need to be Nostradamus to predict that he will be the next T20 World Cup in India and in the 50-over format. Will not be taken. World Cup in South Africa in 2027.
A very courageous Irish team, with some quality T20 players like Paul Stirling, Josh Little, Harry Tector, Andy Balbirnie, awaits India in a lung-opening match.
On the slow track and poor outfield of the Nassau County ground, it will be interesting how India plays against Irish left-arm spinner George Dockrell.
Where India have the upper hand is with their spinners, who are far better than the Irish team, although the fast bowling attack, apart from Bumrah, looks a little weak in the absence of Mohammed Shami.
Often having too many options is not the best option, as Indians have on top.To fit captain Rohit and the team's best batsman Kohli, perhaps they will have to sacrifice Yashasvi Jaiswal.
Rishabh Pant's batting at No. 3 in the practice match was like a breath of fresh air and Hardik Pandya's bowling form will be indicative of how India fare in this competition.
On Monday, at the Cantiag Park nets, Pandya spent a lot of time bowling to Kohli, Suryakumar Yadav and Rohit.
If he can bowl at least three overs every day, the Indian team can also consider playing Shivam Dubey and including an additional spinner in the line-up.
Like in earlier days, Ireland are not at all weak in this format and recently, they have defeated Pakistan in their own den ahead of the World Cup.Little has little experience of playing IPL for Gujarat Titans and the trio of Balbirnie, Stirling and Tector can do more than give their weapons a chance.
The 'Green Shirts' will be the banana peel that Rohit and his men cannot afford to wear before they meet the more famous 'Green Jerseys' at the weekend.
Teams (from):
,
India: Rohit Sharma (captain), Virat Kohli, Rishabh Pant (wicketkeeper), Suryakumar Yadav, Hardik Pandya, Shivam Dubey, Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah, Arshdeep Singh, Mohammed Siraj, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Sanju Samson, Yuzvendra Chahal.
Ireland: Paul Stirling (c), Mark Adair, Ross Adair, Andy Balbirnie, Curtis Campher, Gareth Delany, George Dockrell, Graham Hume, Josh Little*, Barry McCarthy, Neil Rock (wk), Harry Tector, Lorcan Tucker (wk). , Ben White, Craig Young.Match starts: 8 pm.
