India and Ireland have been by far the most impressive teams in their group, and both unexpectedly so. Nobody imagined India to do as well as they have, winning four games out of four, including three against the big guns – Pakistan, South Africa and West Indies. Indian cricket couldn’t have been at a happier place as the team heads for the quarter finals, to take on their most likely rivals, Bangladesh.
Ireland have done reasonably well, and apart from the loss to South Africa, haven’t put a foot wrong. Nobody expects Ireland to beat India tomorrow, but the very fact that they take on the richest team in cricket would mean a lot for the Irish boys. Any embarrassment they cause to the Indians would certainly give Irish cricket a huge boost, and crucially, it might mean a big IPL contract for some of the Irish players.
Ireland have nothing to lose in this match. But they would be knowing very well that they need to win one of their next two games, either this match against India or the next one against Pakistan, if they are to reach the quarter finals. It certainly doesn’t look easy for the Irish, but if there is one thing you can certainly say about them, even if they do go down, it won’t be for a failure to put up a real fight and having a real go.
Niall O’Brien, the Irish international has talked about playing with a no-fear approach, and their courageous captain William Porterfield has been very clear about looking for a win in every game. The Irish would be looking for a result in this match as well.
Says Porterfield: “Been a pretty good mood in the camp throughout and obviously winning helps. Being three from four is a nice position to be in. Like any other game we’ll be looking for a win and to make it four from five tomorrow.”
But the Indians are relaxed but a little tense too at the prospect of meeting home team Australia in the semi-finals much later. Mohit Sharma, the young Indian fast bowler was talking about India’s chances of meeting Australia in the semi-finals, “It does make a difference and have a small effect on your mindset, you have to change your line a little, but we are not going to fret much about it, whatever is there is there, it is the same for both the teams.”
India are likely to play the same team for this match and Ireland won’t be making any changes either. So both teams will be giving it their best shot.
The Teams
India: 1 Shikhar Dhawan, 2 Rohit Sharma, 3 Virat Kohli, 4 Ajinkya Rahane, 5 Suresh Raina, 6 MS Dhoni(capt & wk), 7 Ravindra Jadeja, 8 R Ashwin, 9 Mohammed Shami, 10 Mohit Sharma, 11 Umesh Yadav
Ireland : 1 William Porterfield (capt), 2 Paul Stirling, 3 Ed Joyce, 4 Andy Balbirnie, 5 Kevin O’Brien, 6 Gary Wilson (wk), 7 Niall O’Brien, 8 John Mooney, 9 George Dockrell, 10 Alex Cusack, 11 Andy McBrine
Match conditions
Hamilton received a lot of rain last night and it is possible that it might rain tomorrow as well. Conditions are overcast, so there should be a lot of help for the fast-medium bowlers from either side.
Watch the match tomorrow at 6:30 AM on Star Sports.
