INDIAN CRICKET TEAM BEATS IRELAND ON A BAD PITCH
NEW YORK: Cloudy, with a touch of coldness in the air; and a wicket that has a bit of something for everyone. That was exactly what the Indian bowlers had hoped for as they sought to make their debut at Nassau International County ground on Wednesday an unforgettable one.
It could have been more competitive but as long as India won no cares- everyone does not matter.An eight-wicket win allowed favourites to show off some muscles. It was a toss that India would have wanted to win but once it was lost and four-man pace attack made up of Arshdeep Singh, Mohammed Siraj, Jasprit Bumrah and Hardik Pandya did all the damage. Of course, on a pitch where there is inconsistent bounce, Ireland’s batsmen lacked the artifice needed to stretch out a game.
Arshdeep (2-35) caused problems early on while Hardik provided some cheer for fans from his bowling effort. So it was really important that he found his rhythm in his first couple of overs. The conditions were tailor-made for him and Hardik tried to bowl slightly fuller than usual. It paid dividends; Lorcan Tucker getting bowl down. Also Hardik (3-27) overpitched by just enough occasionally making it tough for Irish batters.
In this mayhem, Bumrah kept doing his thing (2-6), landing it in good areas and looking almost unplayable at times. With that uneven bounce available, you could feel that there were elements of dread around Bumrah’s bowling which made it even harder to face him.
Stuttering Virat-Rohit combination.
The opening pair of Virat and Rohit who were playing together for the first time since March 20, 2021 was one of the main highlights of this game. It would have been wonderful for passionate fans to witness both of them batting with full force but they had only Rohit show to watch.
Rohit had some close shaves but the Captain dug in and decided that he wasn’t going to miss out on some important batting practice given it was a chase of 97. Batting at No.3 Rishabh Pant showed that all the sweat he put into his game was paying off. Rohit and Pant’s partnership of 54 sealed the match for India hence there was very little concern left at all.
And soon after completing his half-century, pitch a rising delivery struck him on his shoulder with skipper obviously not wanting to aggravate any injury here. At 76-1, Rohit walked off retired hurt. This was just about a perfect day for Men in Blue however supporters will look forward their captain turning up fit ahead of Sunday’s bash against Pakistan.
