Will Jitesh and Avesh be included in India’s bench-strength experiments?

Will Jitesh and Avesh be included in India’s bench-strength experiments?

India has gotten much of what they wanted out of the Ireland series. Jasprit Bumrah and Prasidh Krishna have made outstanding returns to form and fitness and have been called up to the Asia Cup squad. Ruturaj Gaikwad has made a successful return to the T20I squad with one undefeated innings and one rapid half-century. Sanju Samson looked comfortable during his 40-minute cameo in the second T20I, before Rinku Singh shone on what was basically his debut. Shivam Dube has auditioned for the post of back-up to Hardik Pandya, however he could use some more wickets. Ravi Bishnoi took four wickets in two games after going wicketless in his previous outing in the Caribbean. And India has secured the series.

So they can now focus on the players who have been sitting on the bench in Malahide. Jitesh Sharma might get his India cap and bat in the lower middle order, where he can show off his hit-from-the-first-ball talents. Shahbaz Ahmed, fresh off a haul of wickets in the Deodhar Trophy, might also step in to provide India another all-round option while Washington Sundar rests. And Avesh Khan, who was once a talented white ball player, might use another chance to show that he has worked out his shortcomings.

To compete with India, Ireland will need to perform admirably with both bat and ball. They were 59 for 6 in the first game against two bowlers recovering from injuries who were not quite at their prime. In the second encounter, India’s batsmen blossomed except for one, while Ireland lost too many runs in the final overs and their top four batters – except Andy Balbirnie – couldn’t find solutions to Prasidh’s short balls and Bishnoi’s incorrect ‘un.

Even if they continue to leak runs, which is not a crime in T20s, Ireland’s batters will have to shoulder the most of the blame if they are to win their first match against India after ten failed attempts.

Form guide

India WWLWW (most recent first, last five completed matches)

Ireland LLLWW

Shivam Dube and Paul Stirling are in the spotlight.

With the bat, allrounder Shivam Dube had a sort of second coming in the IPL this year. He had his most productive season, scoring 418 runs at a strike rate of 158.33, including 35 sixes (the second-highest in IPL 2023), while also averaging 38. However, more than half of those runs and 22 of those 35 sixes came against spin, and the conditions in Ireland are as dissimilar to those in Chennai (his home base in the IPL) – rainy, cloudy, and faster, bouncier, greener surfaces.

In the second T20I, he faced only speed and scored 22 not out off 16 balls. His challenge will be to score more runs off short balls and to be a wicket-taking option in the middle overs in conditions that suit him better.

Apart from international cricket, Paul Stirling has been scoring all over the world in recent years, including the Vitality Blast and the Hundred in England, the Lanka Premier League, the Pakistan Super League, the Caribbean Premier League, and the SA20. He took over captaincy from Balbirnie in July, although he hasn’t scored much against the No. 1 T20I team in this series. In the series opener, he fell to Bishnoi’s googly before being caught by Prasidh for a duck, and with Ireland’s batting under pressure, Stirling will be anxious to cap the series with a substantial contribution.

Will Theo van Woerkom make his debut?

Because Bumrah and Prasidh want more playing time before the Asia Cup, Samson might pass over the wicketkeeper-batter reins to Jitesh, Shahbaz for Washington, and Avesh for Arshdeep Singh. The only question is whether India wants to make up to three changes.

1 Yashasvi Jaiswal, 2 Ruturaj Gaikwad, 3 Tilak Varma, 4 Rinku Singh, 5 Sanju Samson/Jitesh Sharma (wk), 6th: Shivam Dube, 7th: Washington Sundar/Shahbaz Ahmed, 8th: Arshdeep Singh/Avesh Khan, 9th: Ravi Bishnoi, 10th: Jasprit Bumrah (captain), 11th: Prasidh Krishna.

Ireland has employed the same XI in both games and, with nothing to lose, might give Christchurch-born left-arm spinner Theo van Woerkom his debut. He was a member of New Zealand’s Under-19 World Cup squad in 2012, but has qualified for Ireland due to his mother’s Irish ancestry. He might replace legspinner Ben White. They might also attempt batting allrounder Gareth Delany in the middle or Ross Adair (Mark Adair’s brother) at the top.

1 Paul Stirling (capt), 2 Andy Balbirnie, 3 Lorcan Tucker (wk), 4 Harry Tector Curtis Campher (5th), George Dockrell (6th), Mark Adair (7th), and Barry McCarthy (8th). Fionn Hand/Craig Young at 9, Josh Little at 10, and Ben White/Theo van Woerkom at 11.

Statistics and trivia

    Paul Stirling ranks fifth all-time in T20I run-scoring, trailing the likes of Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma, Martin Guptill, and Babar Azam. If he scores more than 77 points on Wednesday, he will surpass Babar.

    So far in this series, Bumrah’s economy rate is 4.88; no other bowler has gone under six an over.

Pitch and weather

Wednesday will be partly cloudy with some rain, with increased cloud cover and windiness forecast. The temperature is forecast to fall barely below 20 degrees Celsius. There is a higher risk of rain later in the evening, but with a 3pm local time start, we should be able to finish the game even if it is stopped.