After turning victorious in the first T20I on Sunday, the Hardik Pandya-led side is eyeing for another series win over a spirited Ireland on Tuesday at Malahide.

Pandya has been stressing after the first match that India are firmly focusing on the road to Men’s T20 World Cup, to be hosted by Australia in October-November, they will be keen to test more players in the second T20I.

Also read: Hardik Pandya gives his bat to Ireland’s Harry Tector, who will ‘maybe get an IPL contract’

With Umran Malik being handed a debut, he could be expected to continue in the eleven despite leaking 14 runs in the lone over he bowled. 

India is likely to have make a forced change if Ruturaj Gaikwad, who did not open the batting on Sunday due to a calf niggle, does not recover in time with just a day’s gap between the two T20Is.

Also read: Why Ruturaj Gaikwad did not open in the 1st T20I vs Ireland

The visitors will be pleased by the economical spells bowled by Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Yuzvendra Chahal in restricting Ireland to 108/4 apart from Deepak Hooda shining as a makeshift opener and Pandya providing fireworks with the bat.

Meanwhile, Ireland also gave a good account of themselves against a strong opposition like India, especially with young Harry Tector enthralling the capacity crowd with an unbeaten 33-ball 64, striking six fours and three sixes at a high strike rate of 193.94. With the ball, pacer Craig Young did well with 2/18 in two overs.

Also read: Hooda, Pandya fuel India win vs Ireland in 1st T20I

Ireland would want experienced batters like Paul Stirling and captain Andrew Balbirnie to step up. They will also need pacer Joshua Little and off-spinner Andy McBrine to improve their performance after being taken for runs by the Indian batters.

Squads:

Ireland: Andrew Balbirnie (captain), Mark Adair, Curtis Campher, Gareth Delany, George Dockrell, Stephen Doheny, Josh Little, Andrew McBrine, Barry McCarthy, Conor Olphert, Paul Stirling, Harry Tector, Lorcan Tucker and Craig Young.

India: Hardik Pandya (captain), Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Ishan Kishan, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Sanju Samson, Suryakumar Yadav, Venkatesh Iyer, Deepak Hooda, Rahul Tripathi, Dinesh Karthik (wicketkeeper), Yuzvendra Chahal, Axar Patel, Ravi Bishnoi, Harshal Patel, Avesh Khan, Arshdeep Singh and Umran Malik.