IND vs IRE, 2nd T20I: Team India, led by Shreyas Iyer, are well and truly under pressure as they need nothing less than a win when they face Ireland in the second and final T20I at the Civil Service Cricket Club, Stormont, Belfast on June 28, Sunday. With the tourists losing the series-opener by 34 runs and Team India having some underperformers, they are likely to trigger some changes to the XI. Vaibhav Sooryavanshi is likely to make his debut, with another debutant for Team India looming.
IND vs IRE, 2nd T20I: Will Vaibhav Sooryavanshi make his debut in Belfast?
Fans and a few former cricketers were surprised after the 15-year-old wasn’t handed a debut in the series-opener as the tourists stuck to the opening pair of Abhishek Sharma and Sanju Samson. While it might have been an anomaly, the series remains on the line and the visitors could be forced into a knee-jerk change. With Sooryavanshi in fearsome form, the Men in Blue will be raring to use his form.
With Washington Sundar struggling across facets in the first T20I against Ireland, he is likely to be dropped for Sooryavanshi. Instead, Prasidh Krishna, who leaked 57 in his four wicketless overs, is likely to make way for Prince Yadav. Prince enjoyed an impressive debut ODI series against Afghanistan at home and performed well for the Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) too in IPL 2026.
India predicted playing XI: Abhishek Sharma, Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, Sanju Samson(w), Ishan Kishan, Shreyas Iyer(c), Tilak Varma, Shivam Dube, Axar Patel, Harshit Rana, Arshdeep Singh, Prasidh Krishna/Prince Yadav.
IND vs IRE, 2nd T20I: When did Team India last lose a T20I series?
The Men in Blue haven’t lost a T20I series in nearly three years now. The last side to beat the Asian powerhouse and register a series victory was the West Indies in August 2023. Since then, India have won two T20I World Cups and notably didn’t lose any series under Suryakumar Yadav’s captaincy.
Hence, the Men in Blue will be keen to keep that streak going and a series victory will be a massive blow to the reigning World Champions. Shreyas Iyer, who got out for 3, in the series-opener will also need to make a telling contribution if India are to square the series.
