India started their mission to end their ICC trophy drought with a convincing win over Ireland by 8 wickets in their opening match of the T20 World Cup 2024 at the Nassau County International Cricket Stadium in New York. The Indian bowlers served the win on the platter and the batters took 74 balls to clinch those two crucial points.
India’s bowling exposed Ireland’s batting. Early wides aside, some unplayable deliveries had Ireland on the back foot. Paul Stirling edged one, Andrew Balbirnie was trapped lbw, boundaries were scarce, and Locran Tucker’s promising innings was cut short. Jasprit Bumrah rattled Tector, and wickets fell consistently throughout the innings, leaving Ireland all out for a meagre 96.
Despite a lively pitch, India chased effectively. Rohit Sharma, looking sharp, took his chances and found some luck. Pant, though less fluent, kept finding boundaries. Both took blows on a bouncy wicket, raising safety concerns, but India cruised to victory with 18 balls to spare.
Team India Player Ratings vs IRE: Who scored 10/10?
Rohit Sharma (9/10): Skipper did the best thing to not lose his wicket early on. He played a match-winning inning of 52 off 37 and most importantly assessed the difficult ‘Nassau’ pitch before the much-awaited IND vs PAK battle. It wasn’t an happy ending for Rohit as he was forced to retire himself out when he got struck on his elbow.
Virat Kohli (1/10): Moved to the top of the order but Virat Kohli had a forgettable game. He tried to hurry things but handed one to the deep third man. India fans hoped for Kohli to stay longer at the surface ahead of the much-anticipated fixture against Pakistan.
Rishabh Pant (8.5/10): India really missed Rishabh Pant! After his superb fifty in the warmup game vs Bangladesh, Pant continued his run-making spree. On a pitch that wasn’t conducive to batting, Pant played some audacious strokes and always tried to make bowlers adjust their lengths.
Suryakumar Yadav (1/10): Making just two runs, SKY went for the glory shot and was perished. He had a chance to play more deliveries at the pitch but faltered.
Shivam Dube (5/10): India opted to play Shivam Dube for his power-hitting and medium paced bowling. However, Arshdeep, Bumrah, Siraj and Pandya did all the damage and thus Dube didn’t get a chance to bowl. While he did come out to bat but Pant’ flamboyant six finished things off.
Hardik Pandya (9.5/10): It was a great news for India heading into the more important matches of the T20 World Cup. The resurgence of Hardik Pandya, the all-rounder. He came out with a dominating mindset and trouble the Irish batters with bowling at right areas.
Indian Cricket
Ravindra Jadeja (6/10): Got to bowl just one over, where he leaked seven runs.
Axar Patel (8/10): Took a sensational catch off his own bowling to end Barry McCarthy’s stay. Better than Jadeja, Axar gave away only three runs.
Jasprit Bumrah (9.5/10): Another day, another masterclass by undoubtedly the best bowler of the world – Jasprit Bumrah. The Player of the Match winner had a startling day, ending with the figures of 3-1-6-2. He was deadly on what was a dangerous pitch.
Arshdeep Singh (9/10): Wow! Arshdeep commenced India’s World Cup with a marvelous display of swing bowling. The left-arm pacer knows how to trouble the batters with the new ball and did just that. However, he was shoddy in the meantime as well, leaking too many wides.
Mohammed Siraj (8/10): Was quite strict in his lines and lengths due to which he leaked runs at just 4.3 and even took the wicket of George Dockrell.
