Team India will take on Ireland in the first game of the three-match T20I series. This game will take place on Friday, August 18, at The Village, Dublin. In fact, all three matches will be played at the same venue. The Indian board has sent their young team, led by ace pacer Jasprit Bumrah.
This is a much-awaited series for the Indian team. Bumrah is making his comeback at the international level, along with Prasidh Krishna. Both pacers suffered injuries and will play their first game after recovering.
With the team full of young talent, Bumrah has been given the responsibility to lead the team in the absence of senior players. On Friday, the 29-year-old will become only the 11th player to lead the country in the shorter format of the game. With this, he will also create history.
Bumrah will also become the first bowler to captain India in the T20I format. Before him, all the Indian captains had been batters, all-rounder or wicketkeepers. On the other hand, Jasprit Bumrah will also become only the second bowler to lead India in two formats, after Kapil Dev.
Kapil led India in ODIs and Tests. Notably, the 29-year-old made his captaincy debut in the fifth and final rescheduled test against England in Edgbaston last year. And now, he will be making his T20I captaincy debut. Other players to lead India in T20Is are Virender Sehwag, MS Dhoni, Suresh Raina, Ajinkya Rahane, Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma, Shikhar Dhawan, Rishabh Pant, Hardik Pandya, and KL Rahul.
Normally, it is not a normal sight for a pacer to lead a team in international cricket. Pat Cummins broke this chain when he became Australia’s captain in 2021. Then, Tim Southee is another example. But in the history of Indian cricket, not many bowlers have led the Indian team, especially fast bowlers.
Bumrah will be seen in action with India’s second-string team against Ireland. Ruturaj Gaikwad is the vice captain, and players like Rinku Singh, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Sanju Samson, Shivam Dube, Arshdeep Singh, and Washington Sundar are also part of the squad.
