India's strongest playing XI for T20I series against Ireland
With an eye on the Asia Cup and the World Cup, which will start in September and October respectively, the BCCI has named a second-string Indian squad to face off against Ireland in a three-game T20I series in August.
Jasprit Bumrah, who hasn't played since September 2022 owing to a troublesome back injury, will make his comeback and has been appointed the captain of the squad. The 15-man contingent features quite a few fresh faces, with almost all of India's frontline white-ball players missing.
Team India squad for T20I series against Ireland: Jasprit Bumrah (c), Ruturaj Gaikwad (vc), Yashasvi Jaiswal, Tilak Varma, Rinku Singh, Sanju Samson (wk), Jitesh Sharma (wk), Shivam Dube, Washington Sundar, Shahbaz Ahmed, Ravi Bishnoi, Prasidh Krishna, Arshdeep Singh, Mukesh Kumar, Avesh Khan
Here is India's strongest playing XI for the three-match T20I series against Ireland.
Openers: Ruturaj Gaikwad, Yashasvi Jaiswal
India have only two specialist openers in their squad for the Ireland T20I series, and both are bound to play.
Ruturaj Gaikwad is the vice-captain of the side and will undoubtedly slot in at the top, while Yashasvi Jaiswal will be keen on making his mark in the shortest format as well after a rousing Test debut.
Middle order: Sanju Samson, Tilak Varma, Rinku Singh, Jitesh Sharma (wk)
Picking India's middle order is also a fairly straightforward task. There are barely any backup batters in the 15-man contingent, and it's safe to say that Sanju Samson will headline a power-packed lineup following the openers.
Tilak Varma is part of India's squad for the West Indies T20I series and could be a capped player by the time he travels to Ireland. Rinku Singh, meanwhile, could make his international debut in Dublin. The left-handed duo will be tasked with tackling spin and pace respectively, with the latter perhaps playing the finisher's role.
While the Men in Blue could be tempted to play Shahbaz Ahmed ahead of Rinku or Jitesh Sharma to give themselves a third spinning option, conditions in Dublin are likely to assist the fast bowlers. They might be better off playing as many frontline batters as possible, boosting the chances of Jitesh making his India debut.
Jitesh will likely don the gloves ahead of Samson, with the Kerala batter conceding those duties to Ishan Kishan recently. Shivam Dube, meanwhile, could warm the bench, at least at the start of the series.
All-rounder: Washington Sundar
With Shahbaz out of the picture, Washington Sundar will be India's premier all-rounder in Ireland.
The off-spinner has been laid low by a few injuries recently and will be keen on becoming an integral part of the T20I side once again. He will also need to produce some pyrotechnics lower down the order, being the only all-rounder in the playing XI.
Bowlers: Ravi Bishnoi, Jasprit Bumrah (c), Prasidh Krishna, Arshdeep Singh
Without any pace-bowling all-rounders, India will need to field four specialist bowlers who might not contribute much with the bat.
Leg-spinner Ravi Bishnoi is the only out-and-out tweaker in the side and should lead the spin attack, with the returning duo of Jasprit Bumrah and Prasidh Krishna being part of the bowling lineup, too. Arshdeep Singh, who has led India's attack in Bumrah's absence, should round off the XI.
Mukesh Kumar and Avesh Khan are certainly in the national picture for now, but they will likely be behind the trio of Bumrah, Prasidh Krishna and Arshdeep Singh in the pecking order.