Harshit Rana put up a strong comeback for India during the first T20I against Ireland as he picked up a three-wicket haul at the Civil Service Cricket Club, Belfast, on Friday, June 26. Harshit was on the sidelines for months due to a knee injury that he picked up before the T20 World Cup 2026.ย
Harshit made a return to India’s squad for the recently concluded third ODI against Afghanistan on June 20 as he was roped in for the side for the first time since that injury. However, he was not picked in the Playing XI for the Chennai ODI.ย
However, Harshit made his return during the first T20I against Ireland as he picked up three wickets for 24 runs in the four overs he bowled. He got Ross Adair caught behind in the first over that he bowled, before removing Tim Tector caught on the off side by Shreyas Iyer. Harshit returned in the middle overs and removed the new Ireland T20I captain Lorcan Tucker for 50 as India kept making strikes.ย
Ireland put up 182/9
Ireland have put up a decent score of 182/9 on the back of a fifty from Tucker and a 49 from Gareth Delany. Prasidh Krishna was taken to the cleaners by Delany and George Dockrell as they hit him for 27 runs in the 17th over. This is the second-highest T20I total for Ireland against India, only behind the 221/5 they put up in 2022.
India opted to bowl first earlier after new captain Shreyas Iyer won the toss. “[On winning the toss and choosing to field first] Weโre going to field first. It looks a good pitch. Yeah, itโs a new surface for us, and itโs the first time, and the majority of us havenโt played over here. So, considering the conditions, the environment, and also the wicket, we have decided to field first,” Shreyas said at the toss.
“[On returning to Ireland and Gautam Gambhirโs message to the team] Honestly speaking, heโs just asked all the players to be themselves and be relentless in the approach, ruthless. And there are so many other adverbs which I could put in over here. (Vaibhav playing?) Unfortunately, no. Heโs a gun player. But obviously, weโve got tremendous experience in the squad who have done brilliant in the past couple of series for India. So we are backing majority of our cricketers who have been doing absolutely marvellous throughout the season. So I think heโoutside the leg-stump get his opportunity when the time comes. But for now, we are going with three genuine seamers, one all-rounder, and two spinners.”
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