Ireland vs India, T20Is: Preview, head-to-head, and key stats
What's the story
India will face Ireland in a two-match T20I series, starting June 26. All-rounder Hardik Pandya will be leading the visitors. Of late, India leveled the T20I series against the Proteas by 2-2, with the fifth outing being abandoned due to rain. Meanwhile, Ireland are enjoying a decent form, having won three of their last five T20Is. Here is the statistical preview.
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A look at the head-to-head record in T20Is
India enjoy a 3-0 win-loss record against Ireland in T20 Internationals. The Men in Blue had chronicled a 2-0 series in Ireland during the tour of 2018. Their maiden encounter was during the 2009 T20 World Cup in Trent Bridge.
Runs
Rohit is the highest run-scorer in India-Ireland T20Is
As per ESPNcricinfo, Rohit Sharma is the leading run-getter in India-Ireland T20I encounters. He has amassed 149 runs across three outings, averaging 74.50. He has two fifties with the best score of 97. Suresh Raina (79) and Shikhar Dhawan (74) follow suit. Meanwhile, James Shannon has aggregated the most runs for Ireland (62). Rohit has also scored the most runs in a series (97).
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Kuldeep is India's highest wicket-taker in T20Is vs Ireland
As per ESPNcricinfo, chinaman Kuldeep Yadav has affected the most dismissals in India-Ireland T20I match-ups (7). He averages an astonishing 5.28 with the best figures of 4/21. Yuzvendra Chahal and Peter Chase follow suit, having claimed six and five wickets, respectively.
Duo
Dockrell, Young in reach of laud-worthy feats
George Dockrell tops the bowling charts for Ireland. The slow-left-arm orthodox has scalped 76 wickets in 93 T20Is. He is four shy of reaching 80 T20I scalps. As per ESPNcricinfo, Dockrell could become the 10th highest wicket-taker in T20Is alongside Chris Jordan. Meanwhile, right-arm quick Craig Young (48) could reach 50 T20I wickets. He is currently tied alongside Ravindra Jadeja and Shane Watson.
Duo
Chahal, Bhuvneshwar eye these numbers
Chahal is currently the highest wicket-taker for India in T20Is (74). The ace-leg-spinner could reach Dwayne Bravo's T20 count (78). He would be the joint 11th highest wicket-taker in this format. Swing specialist Bhuvneshwar Kumar (64) can draw parity with Ajantha Mendis (66) among the leading wicket-takers.
Feat
Stirling seeks a historic feat
Veteran Paul Stirling has the most runs by an Irish batter in T20Is. He has compiled 2,776 runs in 102 T20Is, smashing one hundred and 20 fifties. He could breach the 2,800-run mark in the upcoming series. He would be only the fifth T20I batter besides Rohit (3,312), Martin Guptill (3,299), Virat Kohli (3,296), and Aaron Finch (2,855) to have crossed the landmark.
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Kishan, Karthik can break this barrier
The hard-hitting duo of Ishan Kishan (495) and Dinesh Karthik (491) can race past 500 runs in this format. Suryakumar Yadav has smacked 351 runs in 14 T20Is at 39.00. He could trump Virender Sehwag's tally (391) and reach 400 runs in this format.
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Irish batters eye laudable numbers
Skipper Andrew Balbirnie (1,429) can drive past the 1,500-run mark. He would become only the third Irish batter beside Stirling (2,776) and Kevin O'Brien (1,973) to have surpassed the run-tally. All-rounder Gareth Delany (694) is in reach of attaining 700 runs in this format.