13 months after India’s tour of Ireland 2022, ace spinner Ravichandran Ashwin has predicted a one-sided victory for the visitors during the ongoing three-match T20I series in Dublin. Ashwin’s assessment highlighting difference between the two squads came at a time when Indian bowlers had picked four wickets in the powerplay.
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Having won the toss and opted to bowl in his first T20I as a captain and first international match in almost 11 months, Jasprit Bumrah initiated the wicket-taking process in the first over itself.
A loose delivery fetching former Ireland captain Andy Balbirnie (4) a first-ball boundary was followed by one which swung into the right-handed batter before he played it on to his stumps. Loosing patience on the third ball that he faced, Ireland wicket-keeper batter Lorcan Tucker (0) looking to ramp the right-arm bowler over counterpart Sanju Samson led to his dismissal.
Although on the other side, a similarly futile attempt brought an end to Harry Tector’s (9) innings as fast bowler Prasidh Krishna also picked a wicket in the first over of his first-ever T20I match and first international match after almost a year.
Much like the first two wicket-takers, even spinner Ravi Bishnoi bagged one in his first over. Bowling the last over of the powerplay, a quintessential leg-spinner’s googly was enough for Bishnoi to deceive Ireland captain Paul Stirling (11).
13 Months After India Tour Of Ireland 2022, R Ashwin Predicts One-Sided Win For Visitors This Year
Ashwin, who hasn’t played a T20I since last year’s World Cup, took to social media platform Twitter to bring to light how the current Indian squad outweighs the home team in an outright manner.
For the unversed, India had whitewashed Ireland 2-0 in a two-match T20I series last year. That said, the series wasn’t bereft of the hosts not going down without a fight. Chasing a 226-run target in the second match at the same venue, a proper team effort had witnessed them lacking behind by only 4 runs.
Having said that, Ashwin doubts if Ireland would even put up a fight this time round. While the 36-year old didn’t find any fault in Ireland’s squad or approach, India’s fast bowling trio comprising Bumrah, Krishna and Arshdeep Singh will prove to be “too much to handle” as per him.
What Are The Changes Made To The Indian T20I Squad?
For starters, only Ruturaj Gaikwad, Samson, Bishnoi, Arshdeep and Avesh Khan are the five common names between the visiting team’s squad during India’s tour of Ireland 2022 and India’s tour of Ireland 2023.
Led by Hardik Pandya, a 17-member squad had also consisted of several experienced players such as Ishan Kishan, Dinesh Karthik, Suryakumar Yadav, Rahul Tripathi, Deepak Hooda, Venkatesh Iyer, Axar Patel, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Yuzvendra Chahal, Harshal Patel and Umran Malik.
On the other hand, the current squad has been mainly formed by inexperienced Indian players. Other than Krishna, even batter Rinku Singh is playing his first T20I today.
