India vs Ireland XI: Yashasvi Jaiswal, Sanju Samson miss out as Men in Blue field in T20 World Cup opener

Team India won the toss and opted to field in their T20 World Cup opener against Ireland at New York’s Nassau County International Stadium on Wednesday. Some of the notable omissions include that of opener Yashasvi Jaiswal, Kuldeep Yadav and Sanju Samson. This means that Virat Kohli would all but open with Rohit Sharma when India begin their run-chase.

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This also means that India head into the game with four seamers, including all-rounder Hardik Pandya.

“We’re going to bowl. Preparations have been alright. Have been managing ourselves in these new conditions. Has been challenging but we are all professionals. We played on a similar pitch and do know what to expect a little bit. I know it’s going to be slightly different from what we’re used to. But that’s what the sport is,” Rohit said at the toss.

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“Not sure about the conditions too much, so thought having a target in front of us would be good. Guys missing out are Kuldeep, Sanju, Jaiswal and one more (Chahal),” added the 37 year-old.

Paul Stirling, on the other hand, hoped the “matchwinners” in the side show up against the Men in Blue.

“Coming with pretty good prep, we were in Netherlands recently (for the tri-series). We’ve got plenty of matchwinners in our side, want them to show up on the day. We’re looking to assess conditions early,” Stirling said.

This is India’s first of four Group A games in the T20 World Cup. Rohit Sharma and Co next face rivals Pakistan (9 June), USA (12 June) and Canada (15 June).

Playing XIs:

India: Rohit Sharma(Captain), Virat Kohli, Rishabh Pant(wicketkeeper), Suryakumar Yadav, Ravindra Jadeja, Hardik Pandya, Shivam Dube, Axar Patel, Jasprit Bumrah, Arshdeep Singh, Mohammed Siraj.

Ireland: Andrew Balbirnie Paul Stirling(Captain),  Harry Tector, , Lorcan Tucker(wicketkeeper), Curtis Campher, George Dockrell, Gareth Delany, Mark Adair, Barry McCarthy, Joshua Little, Benjamin White