CHENNAI: Mark Adair is aware of the challenge they are up against. As they get ready for the two-match T20I series against India, the Ireland all-rounder wants to treat the tourists like any other opponents they have played in recent years. "We have played some big teams over the last three-four years," Adair told The New Indian Express in an interaction facilitated by Sony Sports Network.
"Our preparation for each of these teams is individual to those teams. But look we are going to treat India like we did West Indies or South Africa or England. Although it is fantastic to see India come over to us, our preparations don't really change," he said.
"I think we have been pretty busy down here playing our domestic structure. We just finished a session of 3-4 days with the extended squad which is great. There is plenty of more work to do. We are looking forward to the series," he added.
Adair made his ODI debut against England just before the 2019 World Cup and he was smashing a fellow debutant Jofra Archer for fun. England did win the match, but Adair smacked a few big hits in his 30-ball 32. Since then he has been a regular in the Ireland setup apart from the couple of injuries he had sustained last year. But he is keen to put it all behind him and start fresh.
"It's been great (his international journey)," said Adair before adding, "there have been ups and down with wins and losses, with my body and injury. Hopefully, all of those are behind me and I am looking forward to the whole international summer leading into the World Cup in September-October".
Adair believes that the spinners hold the key and that the experience of playing the like of Kagiso Rabada and Andre Nortje last year will come in handy against the Indian pace attack. In the batting department, the fast bowling all-rounder feels that different batter poses different threats, but it is all about what happens on the day.
"You look at guys like Hardik Pandya, and Sanju Samson, they bat very differently and they bat at very different places, extremely destructive. Dinesh Karthik is in great form. But look, cricket is a game that is played in one day. It's not played in the past ten days or past three weeks or past three months. If you don't show up on that day, it going to be a bad day. That is how it's going to be," he said.
When it comes to his plans with the ball for the Indian batters, he wants to keep them closer to his chest. "Our plans are our plans. They don't need to be told. I think that T20 cricket is about execution. If you are going to execute the ball where you want to, that's where you have to look at things. It's about where you want the batter to hit and where does he want to hit. There are going to be challenges involved but that's the fun about playing T20 cricket," he signed off.