William Porterfield steps down as Ireland T20I captain, replacement announced

The name of William Porterfield is very closely associated with the Ireland cricket. He has played a significant role in shaping the way Irish cricket stands in the modern day cricket. The 33-year old opening batsman has been around for over a decade. He made his debut for Ireland back in 2006 and has been an integral part of the limited overs setup in the Ireland team.

Recently, when Ireland played their first ever Test match, it was William Porterfield who led them in the game against the touring Pakistani side in the one off match. Now, he has made it clear that he wishes to relieve himself of some work in the international cricket. He wishes to focus on his batting and his captaincy in the ODI and Test cricket. Hence, he has decided to step down as the captain of the Ireland team in T20Is with immediate effect.

He will continue to play for the national side in the shortest format of the game in the capacity of a batsman. For the numbers, William Porterfield led Ireland in as many as 56 T20Is. He has amassed 1002 runs in T20Is with three fifties to his name.

A prolific leader

Going back in the timeline, he had assumed the captaincy of the national side back in 2008. He proved be a great leader for the team and led the team in multiple ICC events as well. Now that he has stepped down as the T20I skipper, the authorities have named a new captain for the shortest format. Veteran wicketkeeper batsman Gary Wilson is set to lead Ireland in T20Is now.

Commenting on his numbers in the ODI cricket, William Porterfield has played 119 ODIs thus far. In the 96 out of those 119 games played, he has led the national side. He has 3692 runs to his name in ODI cricket and averages almost 33 with the bat. He has hit 11 centuries and 15 fifties in his career thus far.

For the latest cricket news, follow CricTracker.