Former India player turned veteran commentator Aakash Chopra has added that Ireland have lots to gain if they can manage to beat either India or Pakistan in the 2024 T20 World Cup. He shared that a positive result in either of those games could help them make it to the Super Eights as well. However, Ireland will face India in their T20 World Cup opener in New York on Wednesday, June 5 as well.
In a video shared on his YouTube channel, Chopra said, “Opportunities are there for everyone because considering the kind of group you are in, you know you have beat either India or Pakistan, and you have the ability to bet USA and Canada, so you can qualify. So it’s a massive opportunity for Ireland. It’s everything to lose for India and very little to gain. However, Ireland have the entire world to gain. They have an extremely experienced squad because it doesn’t change much. They have been together for a very long time. So that is this team’s strength. Considering the conditions, I feel they have a good fast-bowling attack, which includes Joshua Little, Barry McCarthy and Mark Adair.”
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Aakash Chopra also shared that apart from Joshua Little, Barry McCarthy, and Mark Adair, Ireland also have Craig Young, who has picked up seven wickets in four games against India as well. He further added that the Ireland players’ huge experience of playing county cricket will help them.
“Their batting seems to be a slight weakness because Paul Stirling, who is their most experienced player and captain, I think he has an average of nine or 10 against India. He has a highest of 40 and the total runs are 50 to 70. So he has not done very well against India and the new ball will be difficult here. After that, their game against spin and their own spin attack is not that good. We have discussed about the fast bowling being good but the spin bowling is not that good. Since the bounce is slightly uneven and the side boundaries are quite big, spin has had a role,” he concluded.
