IND vs IRE Highlights, T20 World Cup 2024: Rishabh Pant Finishes Off In Style As India Rout Ireland By 8 Wickets

Rishabh Pant finishes the match with a signature one-handed six over the wicket-keeper's head as India beat Ireland by 8 wickets.

Brilliant fifty from Rohit Sharma in 36 balls. This is an excellent knock considering the torrid conditions for batting. India now in touching distance as they need 21 off 60 balls.

After an optimum powerplay on a tough pitch, both Rohit Sharma and Rishabh Pant have played their shots but unable to find the boundaries through most of them. 

Mark Adair gets the priced wicket of Virat Kohli. It was pitched on a short of good length as Kohli was looking to play it over mid-off. However, the extra bounce took the edge and it went straight to the third man fielder. IND 26/1 (3)

This has been a streaky start for Rohit Sharma and India against Mark Adair, who has been mostly accurate with the ball. He is getting the late swing. 

"Always special to play for the country, always good to play for pride. I have been able to contribute in the World Cups, god has been kind. That was an outstanding effort by Axar, those are the catches when you let your hand-eye co-ordination let in. I really liked the first wicket, don't hit the stumps often as I usually bowl short of a length. I needed to be fuller than back of a length today. On this kind of surface you need to be disciplined and hit the right areas. It's always fantastic to see the crowd, we Indians are everywhere, we rule the world, good to have their support."

Ireland have been bowled out for just 96 runs in 16 overs. Gareth Delany ended up being the top run-getter for his side, scoring 26 runs in 14 balls before getting run out. 

For India, Hardik Pandya was the pick of the bowlers as he took three wickets for just 27 runs in his four overs whereas Arshdeep Singh and Jasprit Bumrah found two scalps each.

Mohammed Siraj and Axar Patel also picked up a wicket each.

Ireland: 96/10 (16)

Wicket! Brilliant catch from Axar as he too joins the party, taking his first wicket of the match. Ireland are close to getting all-out here as they go eight down now. McCarthy departs for 0.

Ireland: 52/8 (12)

Wicket! India are on top at the moment as half of Ireland's side heads back to the pavilion. Hardik takes his second of the match as Campher departs for 12. 

Ireland: 44/5 (9)

Wicket! Brilliant from Hardik as he knocks over Harry Tector. Ireland are in deep deep trouble here as they go three down. Hardik strikes in his first over and Tector departs for 10.

Ireland: 32/3 (7)

Brilliant start from Bumrah as he bowls a brilliant maiden over. These two batters will need to build a partnership here if Ireland want to reach to a challenging total.

Ireland: 26/2 (6)

Wicket! Arshdeep is on fire as he takes his second of the over. Ireland are off to a disappointing start here in New York. Arshdeep knocks over Balbirnie who departs for 5. Ireland are two down inside the first three overs.

Ireland: 9/2 (3)

Wicket! There's the early breakthrough for the Men in Blue as Arshdeep strikes in his second over. Stirling looked for a big shot there but ended up hitting it in the air as Rishabh Pant made no mistake with the catch while running back. Stirling departs for 2 and Ireland are one down. 

Ireland: 7/1 (2.1) 

Good start from Arshdeep with the first over as he kept it tight and gave away just three runs. Skipper Paul Stirling and Andrew Balbirnie have taken the crease for Ireland.

Ireland: 3/0 (1)

Yashasvi Jaiswal and Sanju Samson are not included in India's playing XI which means Kohli most likely will be opening the innings with skipper Rohit Sharma.

"Coming with pretty good prep, we were in the Netherlands recently (for the tri-series). We've got plenty of matchwinners on our side, and want them to show up on the day. We're looking to assess conditions early."

"We're going to bowl. Preparations have been alright. Have been managing ourselves in these new conditions. Has been challenging but we are all professionals. We played on a similar pitch and do know what to expect a little bit. I know it's going to be slightly different from what we're used to. But that's what the sport is. Not sure about the conditions too much, so thought having a target in front of us would be good. Guys missing out are Kuldeep, Sanju, Jaiswal and one more."

India: Rohit Sharma(c), Virat Kohli, Rishabh Pant(w), Suryakumar Yadav, Shivam Dube, Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Patel, Jasprit Bumrah, Arshdeep Singh, Mohammed Siraj

Ireland: Paul Stirling(c), Andrew Balbirnie, Lorcan Tucker(w), Harry Tector, Curtis Campher, George Dockrell, Gareth Delany, Mark Adair, Barry McCarthy, Joshua Little, Benjamin White

India have won the toss and have opted to bowl first in the match against Ireland at the Nassau County International Cricket Stadium in New York. 

The weather is pretty cloudy at the Nassau County International Cricket Stadium in New York at the moment as both teams start their respective warm-up drills. However, the toss is expected to take place on time as there is no sign of rain as of now. Let's hope for the best of conditions in order to witness the jaw-dropping action in next few hours.

Check full New York Weather forecast

The pitch of the Nassau County International Cricket Stadium in New York has been a major talking point ever since the last match was played here a few days ago.

The drop-in pitch used for the South Africa vs Sri Lanka match received huge scrutiny as it proved to be a minefield for the batters. Hopefully conditions will be much better for some T20 action today.

India and Ireland have met on seven occasions in the T20I format with Men in Blue winning all of them. They last played in the shortest format during a bilateral series in Ireland last year which India won under Jasprit Bumrah's captaincy.

The only previous meeting between India and Ireland in T20 World Cups was in 2009 in Trent Bridge where the former won by eight wickets.

The most asked question from the past few weeks has been who will open for India in the tournament. Rohit seems to be locked in from one end and is expected to be joined by fellow veteran Virat Kohli at the top of the order. Kohli had opened in IPL 2024 and ended up as the leading run-getter in the tournament.

Yashasvi Jaiswal is the other option for the opening slot, who has fulfilled the same job for Men in Blue in the recent past. 

Notably, Rohit and Samson came out to open in India's only warm-up match against Bangladesh despite Jaiswal being available but Kohli didn't feature in that match.

"In a Playing XI and in a T20 game, there'll always be that one or two slots that you might make the odd change. In general, we are quite settled with a combination in our heads, though I haven't announced it or I haven't said it. You know, honestly, we are very clear about the direction we're going in, the direction we're going in, but we've picked a squad, you know, that allows us to maybe make those one or two changes based on the condition."

Virat Kohli will once again be the player to watch out for in the tournament as he is the all-time leading run-getter in the tournament's history. He has 1141 runs to his name in 27 games and was the top run-getter in the last edition. 

Kohli is also the top-run-getter in the T20I format, having scored 4037 runs in 117 matches at an average of 51.75.

The T20 World Cup 2024 is yet another chance for the Men in Blue to end their wait for an ICC trophy, having missed out on it several times in the last decade. Rohit Sharma will be looking to achieve a huge milestone as captain to get involved in the team's both T2O WC-winning campaigns. He was part of the team that won the inaugural edition in 2007. Indian team is a mixture of experience and young blood with the presence of stalwarts like Virat Kohli, Rohit, Jasprit Bumrah, Ravindra Jadeja and Hardik Pandya making them favourites for the title win.

Ireland have shown glimpses of their capabilities in the ICC tournaments over the years and a win in the first T20I against Pakistan during their bilateral series would surely have given them immense confidence. They are well equipped with talent and hard work but just need to believe that they belong to the stages like this.

India Squad: Rohit Sharma(c), Yashasvi Jaiswal, Virat Kohli, Suryakumar Yadav, Rishabh Pant(w), Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah, Arshdeep Singh, Mohammed Siraj, Yuzvendra Chahal, Sanju Samson, Shivam Dube

Ireland Squad: Paul Stirling(c), Andrew Balbirnie, Lorcan Tucker(w), Harry Tector, Curtis Campher, George Dockrell, Gareth Delany, Ross Adair, Barry McCarthy, Mark Adair, Joshua Little, Craig Young, Benjamin White, Neil Rock, Graham Hume

Hello and welcome to our live blog of the match 8 of the T20 World Cup 2024 between India and Ireland at the Nassau County International Cricket Stadium in New York. This is the second match of the Group A. Stay tuned for all the latest updates from the match.