Team India is gearing up for the two-match T20I series against Ireland which is scheduled to be played from June 26 and June 28 and in the absence of injured KL Rahul, Hardik Pandya has been given the onus to spearhead the Men in Blue for their new T20I assignment.
Hardik will lead a team of mostly non-regulars in the national side, since most of the senior players will be playing the one-off Test Match against England in Birmingham.
From July India will again switch back to T20 mode as they are set to face England in another three-match T20I series and as per a Times of India's report, the squad for the T20Is against Ireland will be the one going for the England T20I series. In that case, Hardik can be seen in the leadership role again for the three-match T20I series against England which will be played on July 7, July 9 and July 10.
"The rescheduled fifth Test between India and England is supposed to be held in Birmingham from July 1-5, while the first T20I of the England series will take place only two days later, on July 7 at the Ageas Bowl in Southampton. It will be difficult for the players involved in the Test to switch to the T20Is at such a short notice," a BCCI source informed The Times of India.
"In such a scenario, the squad picked for the two-T20Is in Ireland has been asked to go to England after that short series, since that outfit will be in T20 mode," the source added.
Further to delve deep into the news, Sports Tak had a conversation with top brass source privy to the development and found out that India might play the same Ireland suit for the first T20I match against England which is two-days after the Birmingham Test. But going forward in the series, India will field a full fledged squad including high-profile players like Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma.
Hardik Pandya will be leading India for the first time as they take on Ireland. Most players who played in the series against South Africa have been included in the squad. Rishabh Pant, who is part of the Test squad for the match against England, and an injured KL Rahul are not part of the squad. Instead, Rahul Tripathi makes his first national team appearance, while Sanju Samson makes a comeback.
India's squad for Ireland T20I series:
Hardik Pandya (Captain), Bhuvneshwar Kumar (vice-captain), Ishan Kishan, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Sanju Samson, Suryakumar Yadav, Venkatesh Iyer, Deepak Hooda, Rahul Tripathi, Dinesh Karthik (wicket-keeper), Yuzvendra Chahal, Axar Patel, Ravi Bishnoi, Harshal Patel, Avesh Khan, Arshdeep Singh, Umran Malik.
