Ireland vs India, 1st T20I - Stats Preview: Players records and approaching milestones

After the fifth and the decider T20I against South Africa got washed out due to rain, team India will now face Ireland for a short two-match series. With the senior Indian team on the UK tour for the rescheduled fifth Test that is scheduled to begin on July 1, Hardik Pandya will lead the side in Ireland. Having led Gujarat Titans (GT) to the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2022 title, the all-rounder will hope to replicate his solid leadership skills for the national side now.

This will be the first time that Hardik will be leading the Indian team with Rohit Sharma set to lead the Test side against England. Talking about the recently concluded South Africa series that took place in India, the Men in Blue came back strongly after losing the first two matches. The team won the third and the fourth encounters to take the series to the final clash.

But the rain had the final say in Bengaluru and the honours were shared between Rishabh Pant’s Indian team and the Proteas. Ishan Kishan and Bhuvneshwar Kumar were the star performers for the hosts throughout the five games. As far as the Ireland series, the selectors have picked Sanju Samson while Suryakumar Yadav also returns from injury. For his performances in the IPL, uncapped Rahul Tripathi has been selected for the first time in the setup.

Pacers Umran Malik and Arshdeep Singh, who kept warming the bench against South Africa will hope to get their debut finally in one of the T20Is. The Asian giants defeated the Irish 2-0 four years back in 2018, which was also a two-game affair and also at the same venue. With T20 World Cup around the corner, the players would like to grab the opportunity in the absence of senior pros. The first clash takes place at The Village in Dublin on June 26, 2022.

Meanwhile, here are some of the important stats and numbers ahead of the 1^st T20I between Ireland and India:

Head-to-Head: Ireland and India have met each other in three T20Is so far with Ireland losing all three of them. In Ireland, both have clashed against each other in two matches with India winning the games in the year 2018.

6 – Hardik Pandya (44) needs six fours to complete 50 fours in the T20Is.

73 – Paul Stirling (7927) is 73 runs away from reaching the landmark of 8000 runs in international cricket.

12 – Hardik (2488) also needs 12 runs to reach 2500 runs across formats.

2 – Craig Young (48) is just two scalps away from reaching the milestone of 50 T20I wickets.

2 – Andy McBrine (98) requires two scalps to get to 100 wickets in international cricket.

4 – Bhuvneshwar Kumar (64) requires four wickets to surpass Jasprit Bumrah (67) and become the second-highest wicket-taker for India in the T20Is.

80 – Stirling (2776) requires 80 runs to go past Aaron Finch (2855) and become the fourth-highest run-scorer in the T20Is.

2 – Craig Young (48) is just two scalps away from reaching the milestone of 50 T20I wickets.

4 – Stirling (96) requires four sixes to get to 100 maximums in the T20Is.

71 – Andy Balbirnie (1429) needs 71 runs to get to 1500 runs in T20 internationals.

5 – Ishan Kishan (495) requires just five runs to reach 500 runs in T20 internationals.

9 – Dinesh Karthik (491) is nine runs short of completing 500 runs in the T20Is.

6 – Curtis Campher (44) requires six fours to reach 50 fours across formats.

1 – Gareth Delany (49) is one game away from appearing in 50 matches across formats.