Team India is expected to go through a major tweak in the upcoming Ireland tour which is slated to be played in August. With sights set on the next year's T20 World Cup, Indian team management will look to continue their formula of banking on the young brigade more, especially after senior players' not so impressive show in the shortest format of the game of late. Team India suffered a dismal outing in the T20 World Cup 2023 and since then they are in a bid to build a young lot in a build up for the next edition's T20 World Cup.
Earlier, the speculations were rife that Hardik Pandya, who has been leading the side since T20 World Cup 2022, will once again take charge of the team for the T20 series against Ireland in absence of bigwigs, but the recent reports suggest that the star all-rounder might be rested and India will have new T20I captain meanwhile. However Indian Team Management are yet to announce India's squad for the Ireland series but they are expected to throw a surprise as Men in Blue's all-format captain Rohit Sharma might not be considered for the three-match outing.
Going by a PTI report, Pandya and Shubman Gill could be among the few names who could be rested for the Ireland tour due to workload management.
Notably, Ireland T20Is will be followed by two showpiece events, Asia Cup 2023 and ODI World Cup 2023.
Both Gill and Hardik are expected to be rested right after the West Indies tour as they will be playing a massive role in the Asia Cup and ODI World Cup back-to-back.
"Nothing is finalised yet and it will also depend on how Hardik is feeling after the one-dayers and T20s in the West Indies. There is travelling involved and only a short turnaround of three days before one flies from Florida to Dublin. With World Cup being of primary importance, one has to factor in his workload. Let's not forget he will be Rohit's deputy in the World Cup," a BCCI source told PTI.
In case Hardik misses out on the Ireland series, Suryakumar Yadav can be seen leading the Indian fold. The Numero Uno of T20I batting rankings made his captaincy debut for Mumbai Indians in the just concluded IPL 2023 and it is most likely that he will be seen making captaincy debut for the Men in Blue next month.
Meanwhile, after wrapping up the five-match T20 series against West Indies which will conclude on August 13, India and Ireland will be playing a three-match T20 series which is slated to be played on August 18, August 20 and August 23. Not just the senior players, but India's head coach Rahul Dravid is also likely to be rested for the Ireland series. In Dravid's absence, the chief of the National Cricket Academy (NCA) VVS Laxman might take over as India's interim coach.
MORE ON SPORTS TAK:
WI vs IND: One day after Joshua Da Silva's '100' quip, Virat Kohli hugs West Indies wicketkeeper's mother after blistering century
IND vs WI: Clarification issued after Jadeja's controversial DRS dismissal on Day 2 of 2nd Test against West Indies
