The two T20Is between India and Ireland will begin at around 6 pm IST (Indian Standard Time) instead of 7 pm, according to a report. The decision was taken in view of Indian women’s cricket team’s games in the ongoing T20 World Cup in England.
Generally, T20Is featuring the Indian team begin around 7 pm IST, but Cricket Ireland told Cricbuzz on Wednesday night that the decision to start the matches around 6 pm IST was taken in view of the Women’s T20 World Cup 2026. The decision was taken to “minimise the overlap, at least partially”, Cricbuzz reported.
The first T20I between India and Ireland will be played Friday (June 26), while the second match will take place on Sunday (June 28). Till now, India and Ireland have played eight T20I games, with the Men in Blue winning on all the occasions.
The T20Is in Belfast will be India’s first assignment after their victory in the T20 World Cup 2026 under Suryakumar Yadav’s leadership. These will also be the first series that India play under Shreyas Iyer’s captaincy, who will mostly bat at SKY’s position.ย
India will also use the T20Is as an opportunity for a warm-up for the series against England, which will begin immediately after the games against Ireland.
The first T20I will be played in Chester-Le-Street on July 1, the second in Manchester on July 4, the third in Nottingham on July 7, the fourth in Bristol on July 9 and the fifth in Southampton on July 11. According to Cricbuzz, the second and the fifth T20I will begin at 7 pm IST, while the other games will start around 10 pm IST. The T20I series will be followed by a three-match one-day international (ODI) series from July 14 to 19.ย
Full squads:
India: Shreyas Iyer (captain), Tilak Varma (vice-captain), Ravi Bishnoi, Abhishek Sharma, Suryansh Shedge, Prasidh Krishna, Sanju Samson, Axar Patel, Harshit Rana, Ishan Kishan, Washington Sundar, Arshdeep Singh, Shivam Dube, Prince Yadav, Vaibhav Sooryavanshi.
Ireland: Lorcan Tucker (captain), Ross Adair, Ben Calitz, Gareth Delany, George Dockrell, Stephen Doheny, Matthew Humphreys, Gavin Hoey, Matthew Hollard, Liam McCarthy, Jai Moondra, Harry Tector, Tim Tector, Reuben Wilson.
ALSO READ –ย ‘Ball was far away’: Furious WI captain slams third-umpire call after controversial dismissal vs Eng