India team will be playing Ireland in a three-match T20 series in August. The T20 series will begin on August 18, while the other two matches will be played on August 20 and 23, respectively. All three T20 matches will be played in Malahide.
Team India is gearing up for the long West Indies tour starting on July 12. They will play a series of two Tests, three ODIs, and 5 T20Is. India’s tour of the West Indies will end on the 13th of August. Soon after the completion of the series they will travel to Ireland for three-match T20 series just before the important Asia Cup 2023.
In 2022 Indian team engaged in two-match T20 series in Ireland where India won the series 2-0. The Men in Blue will be eyeing a similarly dominating performance in the upcoming tour in Ireland. India team will be looking to provide opportunities to the fringe players in the Ireland tour. Here are three Indian players who might be left out of the India T20 Squad vs Ireland.
1. Rahul Tripathi
Rahul Tripathi has not lived up to expectations in this edition of the Indian Premier League. The No. 3 batter, who played 13 games in the season, scored just 273 runs with a poor average of 22.7 and it will be interesting to see whether India picks for the T20 series against Ireland as youngsters Yashasvi Jaiswal, Tilak Varma, and Rinku Singh might be ahead of him in the pecking order to make it into the squad.
He made his international debut just before IPL 2023 as many expected him to carry the Sunrisers Hyderabad’s middle order, which was not the case as he struggled to get going the in the league. The Maharashtra batter could not produce a strong case to be picked in the T20 squad for Ireland. The poor 2023 season would put him on the back foot to make it into the Indian squad for the upcoming series.
2. Deepak Hooda
Deepak Hooda was expected to shoulder the responsibility of LSG’s middle order in IPL 2023 given his experience with the Indian team but the LSG all-rounder flopped big time for his team, as he was completely out of form throughout the tournament as he scored only 84 runs in 12 games for his side at an average of 7.63 letting his team down in IPL 2023.
The 28-year-old had a terrific outing in IPL 2022 which earned him a place in the Indian squad for the 2022 T20 World Cup in Australia and has impressed everyone with his versatility to bat in different positions in the Indian team, but the hard-hitting batter could not find his form at any stage of the tournament and it is expected that Indian selectors might drop him from the India squad for the West Indies and Ireland tour following his poor form in the cash-rich league.
3. Washington Sundar
Washington Sundar’s recent injury concerns and form would be a worrying factor, as the Indian team management would look beyond him for an all-rounder spot in the India squad for the Ireland series. The youngster has been an integral part of the India squad in the white-ball format but found his way out of the India team in the West Indies tour.
The 23-year-old has had a modest season for SRH in IPL 2023, In seven games he scored only 60 runs and claimed three wickets at an average of 48.67, Washington Sundar was a disappointment before injury curtailed his season. With many youngsters putting on some match-winning performances in the Indian Premier League, the selectors would be tempted to name new faces in the Ireland Squad in place of the Tamil Nadu all-rounder.