India begin T20 World Cup against Ireland in unfamiliar New York

As cricket attempts a new relationship with the USA, with the opening round of the 2024 T20 World Cup being played in three American venues in Texas, New York and Florida, so too does the Indian cricket team with the biggest prize in T20 cricket. T20 cricket is played regularly by immigrants across suburbs of the Bronx, Queens and Long Island – the latter host to the 34,000-seater Nassau County International Cricket Stadium where on June 5 Rohit Sharma’s India play Ireland ahead of the marquee clash with Pakistan four days later. 

It will be with a sense of the unknown that Rohit and his team-mates approach their opening match, not just because they have never played at the stadium with a drop-in pitch, but also because it has been 17 years since any Indian team won the T20 World Cup. And the reason is that for too long now, India have been playing catch-up in T20Is. They are ranked No 1 in T20Is, but do not have an ICC trophy to show for since 2007. They have the most lucrative T20 league in the world, and players with record-setting numbers in the format, but how long can they be content with winning bilateral after bilateral series?

Something has to give. And the 2024 T20 World Cup might just provide the turnaround needed for India in the format, not just because of how desperate the likes of Rohit and Virat Kohli are to end their respective T20I careers with an ICC trophy but also because of Indian cricket needs to live up to its status. That can only come with a revamped approach to T20Is, in the batting and bowling. 

Ireland, ranked 11th in T20Is, offer a starting point for Rohit and his team-mates to walk the talk. Ireland are no pushovers, having beaten Pakistan in a T20I recently, but India will have to view them as just that if they are to bully teams at this World Cup. The previous edition in 2022 saw Rohit’s team play well within themselves, to the extent that India had the second lowest Powerplay run rate of all teams. 

Rohit himself, as captain and senior opener, must go hard at the ball in the Powerplay. Kohli, coming off a strong IPL where he scored over 700 runs at a strike-rate touching 155, and who hit 38 sixes, needs to channel such form into T20Is. He cannot be expected to strike at 200 when batting as opener or one-down in a T20 World Cup, but neither can he or India afford to have a strike-rate of 136 like in the 2022 tournament. 

Yashasvi Jaiswal and Rishabh Pant, most likely due to bat at No 2 and No 5 respectively, also must do the heavy lifting to ease the workload on Rohit, Kohli and Suryakumar Yadav. Setting the tone against Ireland is imperative. And, hopefully, Hardik Pandya rediscovers his mojo in the lower middle order. 

With regards to the bowling, three specialist quicks and two spin options looks the likely route for India, with Pandya as the fourth seam option. Rohit and Rahul Dravid will have to choose between Ravindra Jadeja and Axar Patel for the spin-bowling allrounder’s slot.

Ireland will unlikely tinker with the team that has won four of its past six T20Is recently, with the only change being the addition of Josh Little who has linked up with the squad after the IPL. Ireland’s feisty brand of allrounders have often been their trump cards and nothing should change in New York. 

With runs expected at the Long Island venue, considering it has a drop-in pitch, India should feel good about playing three of their four first-round matches there. Indian teams of the past have played eight T20Is in the USA, but all in Lauderhill, Florida. 

India likely 11: 1 Rohit Sharma (capt), 2 Yashasvi Jaiswal, 3 Virat Kohli, 4 Suryakumar Yadav, 5 Rishabh Pant (wk), 6 Hardik Pandya, 7 Ravindra Jadeja, 8 Kuldeep Yadav, 9 Jasprit Bumrah, 10 Arshdeep Singh, 11 Mohammed Siraj

Ireland likely 11: Andy Balbirnie, 2 Paul Stirling (capt), 3 Lorcan Tucker (wk), 4 Harry Tector, 5 Curtis Campher, 6 George Dockrell, 7 Gareth Delany, 8 Mark Adair, 9 Barry McCarthy, 10 Craig Young, 11 Josh Little