India is 1-0 up in the two-T20I series.
The first match proved to be an exciting one as it was curtailed to 12 overs per side and saw Ireland’s Harry Tector showcase his big-hitting prowess.
But the home side's bowling was demolished by an experienced Indian batting lineup with Deepak Hooda top-scoring with 47*, while Ishan Kishan (26) and Hardik Pandya (24) also got some runs under their belts.
Keeping this in consideration, here is the COC predicted playing XI for the Indian team for the second T20I.
Ishan Kishan was impressive as he got going from the first ball itself in the chase and slammed 26 runs in just 11 balls. However, with Ruturaj Gaikwad suffering a calf niggle, India might look for an alternate opener for this match.
India has choices of Sanju Samson and Rahul Tripathi as openers to choose from. Though Deepak Hooda made 47* while opening the innings, he is better suited to middle-order spots and either Samson or Tripathi might come in to replace Gaikwad.
The middle-order is expected to remain the same with Suryakumar Yadav, Deepak Hooda, skipper Hardik Pandya and Dinesh Karthik helming the responsibility in middle and late overs to score quick runs.
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Yuzvendra Chahal was the Player of the Match for his impressive bowling in the last match and he will look to bowl in tandem with Akshar Patel to create pressure on Ireland in hopefully a full match this time, with no rain interruptions.
Bhuvneshwar Kumar is back to his old form and bowling miserly. While Umran Malik bowled only one over, going for 14 runs, it is expected that he’ll retain his place for the second match as well, given his potential.
One more change that the Men in Blue can make is resting Avesh Khan who has been playing without a break for some time now and giving Arshdeep Singh his well-deserved India debut, just to check out how that left-arm seam option works in India’s plans going forward.
COC Predicted India Playing XI for the second T20I against Ireland:
Sanju Samson, Ishan Kishan, Suryakumar Yadav, Deepak Hooda, Hardik Pandya (C), Dinesh Karthik (WK), Akshar Patel, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Umran Malik, Arshdeep Singh, Yuzvendra Chahal