Changes and constants as India begin new T20 cycle against Ireland

More than three months after successfully defending their T20 World Cup crown, India embark upon a new cycle with a tour of the UK, that commences with a two-match series against Ireland in Belfast. While T20s are likely to take a backseat in a year leading into the ODI World Cup, there is no shortage to either the volume of games in the format, or talking points.

Both India and Ireland arrive with new captains at the helm and yet the buzz is elsewhere, with attention primarily centered around Vaibhav Sooryavanshi's first international tour. The 15-year old teen wonder receiving his cap appears a matter of when and not if, but there is a 'will he, won't he' intrigue ahead of the opener considering India's settled top-order that needs no tinkering after a successful World Cup campaign.

Slipping into the background is the fact that Suryakumar Yadav has been dropped after underwhelming batting returns, with India ushering in a new era under Shreyas Iyer. While there is little doubt over Shreyas' leadership credentials following his exploits in the IPL, he would want to make an instant impression with the bat on this sojourn considering his last appearance in this format for India dates back to December 2023. From a captaincy standpoint, it helps that the squad wears a largely settled look with the notable absentees being Jasprit Bumrah (rested) and Hardik Pandya (rested and eventually injured).

There is a change of guard in the Irish ranks too with Lorcan Tucker taking over full-time from Paul Stirling, who is out of this series with an injury. Cricket's perennial giant-killers have promised plenty without delivering tangible consistency and it doesn't help that they have been plagued by a host of injuries. This is the third time that they're hosting India since 2022 and they certainly aren't oblivious as far as knowledge of the opposition is concerned. But the Indian team they are up against is one that has made a habit of smashing records and pushing the ceiling of a safe total in the format.

Ireland ought to come out of the series a better outfit for the experience. If they are to push the reigning world champions though, they will need to convert their promise into something substantial to show that they can go toe-to-toe with the best in the game.

When: Friday, June 26, 2026, 1:30 PM local time / 6 PM IST

Where: Ireland vs India, 1st T20I, Civil Service Cricket Club, Stormont, Belfast

What to expect: Showers are on the radar during the scheduled game hours, although they may not be severe enough to rule out a result. The surface for the game had a green look to it two days out of the contest and while runs should be there for the taking, the seamers ought to make their presence felt under potentially overcast skies.

Team news

India:Nitish Kumar Reddy has been ruled out of the T20 leg of the UK tour with a quadriceps injury, with the uncapped Suryansh Shedge replacing him. Varun Chakaravarthy is unavailable for the Ireland series as he completes his rehab for a foot injury sustained during the IPL. While Shedge is unlikely to start, Ravi Bishnoi could don the lead spinner's role in Chakaravarthy's absence.

Harshit Rana is likely to start as the bowling all-rounder at No. 8 as he makes his comeback from knee surgery. There could be a cap in store for Prince Yadav, who made his ODI debut last week. Whether a second cap is handed out to Sooryavanshi is up in the air at this point. Realistically, it is hard to see India split the top-three that won them the World Cup final just a few months ago but then again, they also dropped their World Cup-winning captain.

Probable XI: Abhishek Sharma, Sanju Samson (wk), Ishan Kishan, Shreyas Iyer (c), Tilak Varma, Shivam Dube, Axar Patel, Harshit Rana, Ravi Bishnoi, Arshdeep Singh, Prince Yadav

Ireland: Among the six players unavailable for selection are Josh Little and Mark Adair, depriving Ireland of their bowling leaders. Curtis Campher's absence also throws a spanner into their works in terms of overall balance.

The hosts could opt for a raw four-pronged pace attack led by one-T20I old Liam McCarthy, with debuts likely for Reuben Wilson, Matthew Hollard and Indian-born left-arm seamer Jai Moondra. Left-arm spinner Matthew Humphreys may find it tough to squeeze himself into the XI given the host of left-handers in the Indian ranks.

Probable XI:Tim Tector, Ross Adair, Harry Tector, Lorcan Tucker (c & wk), George Dockrell, Gareth Delany, Benjamin Calitz, Liam McCarthy, Reuben Wilson, Matthew Hollard, Jai Moondra

Did you know?

India have won each of their eight previous T20Is against Ireland. The last of those came at the 2024 T20 World Cup in New York.

This is India's first T20I in Stormont. They played an ODI at the venue in 2007 where current head coach Gautam Gambhir was POTM for his unbeaten 80.

Sooryavanshi has struck the second-most sixes in all T20s in 2026, with each of his 72 hits coming in the IPL. Abhishek and Kishan are tied fourth with Mitchell Marsh on 66 each.

What they said:

"I think it's pretty incredible for them to have a 15-year-old on their team. I didn't think ever that was going to be possible in this professional era of the game, especially with the amount of work that goes into professional cricket and the standard of the players. So yeah, credit to him. I think he's a pretty special player. We're obviously hoping we'll see him this week. It'll be a big moment for him. But... it'll be great to kind of spoil that party" - Irish skipper Lorcan Tucker on Vaibhav Sooryavanshi

"I am sure that he [Sooryavanshi] will get his dues and his opportunities. So I don't think that just to give him an opportunity, we should drop someone who has already been scoring runs. That also won't be right." - Indian batting coach Sitanshu Kotak.