Pacer Mohammed Siraj pipped Rishabh Pant and Akshar Patel to win the best fielder medal after Team India crushed Ireland by eight wickets to open their T20 World Cup 2024 campaign at the Nassau County International Cricket Stadium in New York on Wednesday (June 5).
In a low-scoring affair, Siraj was not needed to bowl his quota of four overs as Jasprit Bumrah and Hardik Pandya ran through the Irish batting line-up.
After the game, the BCCI took to social media platform Instagram to share a video, in which a young Indian fan was seen meeting with the Men in Blue players and he went on to award the 'Fielder of the Match' medal to Siraj, who accepted it with a warm hug.
Siraj was exceptional with the ball in his three overs as he claimed one wicket by conceding 13 runs. The right-arm quick also affected the run-out of Gareth Delany with his excellent fielding effort during the 16th over of Ireland’s innings.
"In T20 cricket one of the key factors is game awareness as every ball is an opportunity. A great example of today was Akshar Patel’s caught and bowled and Virat Kohli's intensity backing up showing what we spoke in the morning," India fielding coach T Dilip said in the video.
Coming to the match, the Indian bowlers took just 16 overs to bundle out Ireland for a mere 96 after Rohit Sharma won the toss and opted to field first. No Irish batters managed to touch the 30-run mark. Gareth Delany was the top scorer with 26 off 14 balls.
While Hardik (3/27 in 4 overs) picked up three wickets, Bumrah (2/6 in 3 overs) and Arshdeep Singh (2/35 in 4 overs) returned with two scalps each.
In reply, skipper Rohit Sharma slammed a half-century (52 retd hurt off 37) while wicketkeeper-batter Rishabh Pant remained unbeaten on 36 off 26 balls to take India over the line with 46 deliveries to spare.
India will next face arch-rivals Pakistan at the same venue on Sunday (June 9).
