Ireland vs India 1st T20I Predicted XI: Rinku Singh, Jitesh Sharma to make debuts?

India and Ireland are all set to lock horns in the first game of the three-match T20I series on Friday, August 18 at The Village in Dublin.

India have a pretty young squad at their disposal and have Jasprit Bumrah as their skipper. Bumrah is returning after a long injury layoff and the shape he is in before the Asia Cup 2023 is yet to be seen.

Rinku Singh earned an India call-up after a stellar show for the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2023. He was the leading run-scorer for the Men in Gold and Purple and helped them snatch victory from the jaws of defeat against the Gujarat Titans.

It also remains to be seen whether or not India hand a debut to Jitesh Sharma, who was fantastic for the Punjab Kings (PBKS) in the previous edition of the IPL. Sanju Samson got plenty of chances on the tour of West Indies, but failed to make his starts count despite showing promise.

As far as Ireland are concerned, they have a power-packed squad, led by veteran batter Paul Stirling. Their middle-order has a lot of firepower as the likes of Harry Tector, Curtis Campher and George Dockrell can tear any bowling attack apart.

Josh Little has played enough cricket against the Indian cricketers in the IPL and he will have to bring all his experience to the fore. Andrew Balbirnie is also one of their stalwarts.

Probable XIs of India vs Ireland 1st T20I

Ireland

Paul Stirling (C), Andrew Balbirnie, Gareth Delany, Harry Tector, Curtis Campher, Lorcan Tucker (wk), George Dockrell, Mark Adair, Josh Little, Craig Young, Barry McCarthy

India

Yashasvi Jaiswal, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Tilak Varma, Sanju Samson (C), Shivam Dube, Rinku Singh, Washington Sundar, Jasprit Bumrah (C), Arshdeep Singh, Ravi Bishnoi, Mukesh Kumar