Shedge and Prince debut as Iyer opts to field in Belfast must-win encounter

India handed T20I debuts to Suryansh Shedge and Prince Yadav after winning the toss and electing to field against an unchanged Ireland in Belfast. India trails the two-match series 1-0 following a historic 34-run defeat on Friday

Belfast: Suryansh Shedge and Prince Yadav were handed their maiden caps as India won the toss and elected to bowl first against an unchanged Ireland in the second T20I at the Civil Service Cricket Club in Stormont on Sunday.

India needs to win Sunday’s game to square the two-match series after losing the opening game by 34 runs – which also marked their first-ever loss to Ireland in international cricket.

---

After winning the toss, India captain Shreyas Iyer said Shedge and Prince come in for Washington Sundar and Prasidh Krishna in the playing eleven. “Shedge is a powerful, destructive batter. Yes, he’s a sensational youngster who has been scoring runs in domestic cricket and also in the IPL. He’s got a tremendous amount of experience in youth cricket. So definitely he’s performed in the A tours and reaping the benefits.

“Definitely it’s Prince’s first game, so I don’t want to put him under that much pressure. It’s important that he comes out here and gains the experience out of what is there to offer. He must have seen the match (on Friday), how we played in the previous game. So definitely he’s smart enough to adapt to it,” he said.

Iyer also said his decision to bowl first was also due to the weather conditions. “It can pour any time, so we want to maximize the advantage of it. The trend is it’s just important to adapt to the conditions as quickly as possible. And they were pretty smart in terms of making bowling changes and also scoring off the back foot and front foot, clearing right in the front.

“So it’s important that we play smart cricket rather than having a set pattern and see to it that we back our instincts as well at the same time. Yes, it was a bit different, but coming back to the international, it was my first game after a very long time. We’ve got many experienced players in the team who have played a considerable amount of matches. So it was just a day off for us and I’m looking forward to having a good one today.”

Ireland skipper Lorcan Tucker said he was happy to be batting first. “We want to get a good read on the pitch as quickly as possible. Hopefully it plays pretty similarly today. I think it might just be about getting a good read on the pitch as quickly as possible, assessing what their bowlers are trying to do.

“We know they tried to hammer their hard lengths pretty early, and they had good success doing it the other day. But I think it’s time to come back, adapt, learn from the other day, and hopefully have a slightly better go and get in the power play.”

On what pleased him the most about Ireland’s performance in the first game, Tucker explained, “I think the way we put it together in the second innings, the way we shut them down. There were very long periods without boundaries, I think we were able to really dig in, put them under pressure, and the fact we were able to close out the game when they had some big hitters towards the end was exceptional.

“Matthew, he’s fine. He’s a tough lad, so we know he’s willing to get out here and play again. We know Harry’s a spectacular player. I think 100 (T20I) caps is a testament to all the work he’s done and the player he is, so we know he will come good today.”

Playing XIs:

India: Abhishek Sharma, Sanju Samson (wk), Ishan Kishan, Shreyas Iyer (captain), Tilak Varma, Shivam Dube, Suryansh Shedge, Axar Patel, Harshit Rana, Arshdeep Singh, and Prince Yadav

Ireland: Tim Tector, Ross Adair, Harry Tector, Lorcan Tucker (captain & wk), Benjamin Calitz, Gareth Delany, George Dockrell, Liam McCarthy, Matthew Humphreys, Jai Moondra, and Matthew Hollard