IND vs IRE HIGHLIGHTS, T20 World Cup 2024: India beat Ireland by 8 wickets to get their T20 World Cup 2024 campaign off to a winning start at the Nassau County International Cricket Stadium in New York on Wednesday (June 5). While India won the toss and elected to field first, they bowled the Irish side out for 96 before chasing down the total with 46 balls remaining.
Jasprit Bumrah (2/6), Hardik Pandya (3/27) and Arshdeep Singh (2/35) were the pick of the bowlers for Team India who displayed a clinical performance in the match. Arshdeep set the tone for the Men in Blue, removing Irish openers Andrew Balbirnie and Paul Stirling in the same over, his second and the third of the match. Hardik and Bumrah, who were introduced later, derailed the Ireland innings, keeping the Irish under 100.
In response, India did lose Virat Kohli early, who fell for 1 off 5 against Mark Adair, but Rohit Sharma's blistering half-cetury (52 off 37) before being retired hurt and Rishabh Pant's unbeaten 36 off 26 which included an audacious reverse-scoop for a six to finish off the chase helped India secure an emphatic victory.
Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli Open For India In Their T20 World Cup 2024 Opener
Amid a lot of talk about who should open for India, the Men in Blue went ahead with the experienced duo of Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli at the top of the order with no place for Yashasvi Jaiswal in the playing 11. Meanwhile, neither of the two between Kuldeep Yadav and Yuzvendra Chahal made the Playing 11 with India going ahead with the duo of Ravindra Jadeja and Axar Patel, perhaps trusting their better batting ability.
The major concern ahead of India's marquee clash against Pakistan though would be the injury concern which forced Rohit to retire hurt. The Indian skipper did not seem happy with what appeared to a problem with his shoulder but his decision to retire might also be a precautionary measure. India take on Pakistan at the same venue on June 9 (Sunday).