India vs Ireland 1st T20I | 3 things we learned from India’s win over Ireland in Dublin
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Though India completed an expectantly comprehensive 76-run win over minnows Ireland in the first of the two T20Is, it did shed some light on aspects of both the sides. India won’t have too much homework to do for the second T20I, but they would sincerely hope the pitch poses more challenge.
Ireland has a long way to go
While both BCCI and ICC have taken long strides towards the development of nations like Ireland and Afghanistan, their attempts have been shot down by the bitter fact that these nations are still a long way from even facing the established giants of world cricket. India’s last two games, one Test against Afghanistan and this T20I, have reflected just that. And these results aren’t harmless because they can provide a severe setback to their confidence in the short term. For all their well-wishers, that turned up in the match in Chinnaswamy and all the accolades that Afghanistan received for fighting against adversity to win the Test status, India’s domineering display threw wide open the huge chasm between the teams. However, despite the underwhelming display by Ireland, Peter Chase’s last over was saving grace for the hosts, who managed to get three wickets on the last over of the first innings and that too those of Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma, and MS Dhoni. It hasn’t occurred previously, at least not in international cricket.
Is Dublin the new Mumbai?
Apart from BCCI’s philanthropic cause, the short detour to Ireland was mainly to get India acclimatized to the conditions that the British Isles has to offer. The sunny clear Irish skies and comfortable windy conditions were perfect for India to start their warm-up of a three-month long England series. However, the pitch on offer was nowhere near what Indians would get in England. The pitch was devoid of any sort of movement and bounce with the ball coming on to the bat smoothly, and the Indian openers feasted on the Irish bowlers scoring 160 runs in 16 overs. While Murali Karthik, in his pre-match pitch, opined that the track was supposed to exhibit a good competition between the bat and the ball, it proved to be a terrible analysis of the wicket. But, the bowlers remained second fiddle throughout the entire game as the Indian bowlers, even with all their experience, were thrashed all a
India face new fielding concerns ahead of England series
BCCI have taken extensive steps towards improving the fitness and speed of his players with the popular perception being that it has helped India becoming the best fielding side in the field. However, the introduction of Yo-yo test was not welcomed warmly by many in India, who rightly pointed out that the endurance test hardly tested the cricketing skills of a player. Failing the test also saw BCCI axing Ambati Rayudu from the side after naming him in the squad during the IPL, when the Chennai Super Kings batsman was firing all cylinders. Somehow, Rohit Sharma, who managed to pass the test timely recovering from his injury, squeezed into the side at the last moment. But, it was during the fielding that the drawbacks were seen. After Yuzvendra Chahal missed a catch that came down after going up a mile, Rohit made a similar mistake, something that remains totally unacceptable at this level of the game, especially just before heading into the most important series of the season.
