Andrew Balbirnie is all set to lead Ireland in all three formats of the game after replacing Gary Wilson as T20I skipper on Friday, November 29.

Keeping in mind the ICC T20 World Cup 2020 is less than a year away, Balbirnie, who was recently appointed as Ireland’s new Test and ODI captain, was handed over the reins with the hope that he can make a mark across the three formats.

Having led Ireland in 26 games with 12 wins, Wilson, who has 1239 runs in 78 T20Is to his name, has now been released from the captaincy after being Ireland's full-time T20I captain since June 2018, to hand over the reins to Balbirnie, who has made 37 T20I appearances, scoring 790 runs for Ireland so far.

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However, the decision has been take following a discussion between Wilson and Ireland selectors in the best interest of the national team.

As per reports in ESPN Cricinfo, Andrew White, Ireland's chairman of selectors, stated: “Both Gary and the selectors believe that Andrew Balbirnie should have the opportunity to forge his leadership style and his standards across all three formats.”

White further explained, “Whilst he was announced as Test Match and ODI captain a few weeks ago, after consultation with the selectors and Gary it was agreed by all that with similar players likely to be utilised across all formats it was important that Andrew was allowed to stamp his mark on the new generation of players coming through.”

Meanwhile, the Irish chief of selectors also lauded Wilson’s contribution as T20I captain, especially his role in Ireland qualifying for the next T20 World Cup in Australia.

He added, “Gary has been an inspirational leader and our qualification was largely down to his attention to detail in planning and getting the best out of his players in a short space of time.”

On the other hand, Wilson felt honoured that he was able to lead his country on the field while pledging to fully support Balbirnie and looking forward to continue his commitment as a player.

He further added, “It was an absolute honour to be asked to captain Ireland – it was something that I dreamt about as a child. When I took on the job 18 months ago it was always the remit to qualify for the World Cup and re-assess from there.”

Wilson signed off by saying, “I'm very much looking forward to continuing as a player and working with Balbo in the future. I think it will prove to be a great appointment and believe that it is important that he, as a captain, has control of all three sides and gets to take it in a direction that he sees fit.”

(With ESPN Cricinfo Inputs)