That's it from our coverage of India and Ireland's first encounter in the ICC Men's T20 World Cup 2024. The men in blue are up and running with 2 points upfront. Time for us to take your leave. Ninaad Dixit here signing off on behalf of my co-commentator Akshay Bhide and scorer/analyst Manish Bishnoi. Stay tuned for more action from the World Cup and from other events from all over the cricketing fraternity.
Rohit Sharma (India Captain):"The arm is just a little sore. I said it at the toss as well. Quite unsure what to expect from the pitch. New venue and drop in pitches. I don't know how its like to play on a pitch that is 5 months old. I was all about getting used to the conditions that's why we wanted to bowl first and see how the conditions played. I don't think the wicket settled down even when we batted second. It was enough there for the bowlers. All in all I think getting those 2 points was very important.
When there's enough in the pitch, you've got to stick to your basics. Think about bowling in Test cricket. Try and hit those lengths consistently. All these guys have played a lot of Test cricket. Arshdeep is the only guy who hasn't but with him upfront swinging the ball back into the right handers can do a little bit there and you know his 2 wickets was something that set the tone for us getting into the game.
I don't think we can play 4 spinners here. When we picked the team we wanted to have the balance if the conditions are there for the seamers we wanted them to be in the squad. In the later part of the tournament, spin will come into picture. We are open to make changes and do what is required to do on the pitch. Today was a 4-seamer pitch but we still managed to get 2 spinners who are allrounders which gives us good balance.
[Pitch against Pakistan] I don't know what to expect from the pitch but we will prepare as if the conditions are going to be like that. We've got a few days before we play that game. We need to regroup and find out what everyone needs to do. This is going to be a kind of game where all 11 of us need to come together and contribute in whatever way they can.
It was scratchy but good to spend some time in the middle and understand what the pitch is like and what shots you can play. Hopefully we can come out again and play similar brand of cricket and get those 2 points as well."
Paul Stirling (Ireland Captain):"It's a tough one. The toss played a crucial part. We were put in to bat in the overcast conditions. We probably weren’t up to the challenge. India bowled well and we succumbed to it.
I still think we didn’t put enough pressure on the Indian bowlers upfront. They didn’t really miss that often. They were up to the mark with their lines and lengths.
We have crucial games coming up. Getting out there and getting a go and seeing how the wicket is was important for us. We will give it a good crack against Canada in the upcoming game."
Most Runs in T20 World Cup
1142 - Virat Kohli*
1016 - Mahela Jayawardene
1015 - Rohit Sharma*
965 - Chris Gayle
Most consecutive T20I victories for India against a team:
8 against Bangladesh between 2009-18
8 against Ireland between 2009-24*
7 against Australia between 2013-17
7 against Sri Lanka between 2016-17
7 against West Indies between2018-19
Jasprit Bumrah (Player of the Match): "Coming from India, when you come here and see the ball seam around and with some pace, I wouldn't mind seeing it.
In this format, you have to be proactive. You have to assess the conditions quickly and adapt to it and go to what works for you. We played the warm-up game here. The new ball was doing something and we tried to use it.
When the seam goes down, it becomes good to bat on. You want to cover all the bases. The wicket gets better for batting. Overall, happy with our performance."
Player of the Match: Jasprit Bumrah
India's biggest T20I wins in terms of balls remaining
India vs Scotland, 2022 in Dubai (81 Balls remaining)
India vs Bangladesh, 2023 in Hangzhou (64 Balls remaining)
India vs UAE, 2014 in Mirpur (59 Balls remaining)
India vs Ireland, 2024, New York (46 Balls remaining) This Match
India vs Zimbabwe, 2016 in Harare (41 Balls remaining)