Jasprit Bumrah marked his return to international cricket in style. Opening the bowling in the first T20I, Bumrah was hit for a boundary as he floated one toward the batter's pads. But it took him just one more ball to get the wicket of opener Andrew Balbirnie. He inflicted more damage in the first over with the wicket of Lorcan Tucker.
Balbirnie got bowled as the length ball swung in sharply to leave the Irish opener dumbfounded. Bumrah followed it up with two dot deliveries. Then Tucker went for a ramp shot but could not get it over wicketkeeper Sanju Samson as he took an easy catch. Tucker got out for a three-ball duck.
Bumrah on his T20I captaincy debut conceded just four runs in his first over to push the Irish on the back foot in pacer-friendly conditions at The Village, Dublin.
Earlier, Bumrah won the toss and opted to bowl first keeping the weather forecast in mind as Duckworth Lewis Stern (DLS) method may come into play.
Before the coin toss, Bumrah handed T20I debut caps to Rinku Singh and Prasidh Krishna. While Rinku got his T20I cap on the basis of stupendous performances in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2023 for Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR), Krishna made a comeback to the international side after recovering from a back injury. Krishna completed his rehabilitation alongside Bumrah at the National Cricket Academy, Bengaluru.
“We'll bowl first, very happy to be here. The weather looks lovely. I feel good, looking forward to play some cricket. You realise what you were missing, very happy to be back. We expect nothing short of a fight from Ireland. As a fast bowler, I hope the pitch does something. We have two debuts - Rinku and Prasidh Krishna. Told them to just enjoy their cricket,” the 29-year-old said at the coin toss.
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