India opt to field against Ireland in 1st T20I; no debut for Sooryavanshi

India opted for a combination of three specialist seamers, one all-rounder and two spinners.
Ireland captain Lorcan Tucker tosses the coin as India captain Shreyas Iyer looks on before the first T20I in Belfast on Friday, June 26, 2026.
Ireland captain Lorcan Tucker tosses the coin as India captain Shreyas Iyer looks on before the first T20I in Belfast on Friday, June 26, 2026.(Photo | X @BCCI)
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BELFAST: India captain Shreyas Iyer won the toss and opted to field in the opening T20I against hosts Ireland here on Friday.

India opted for a combination of three specialist seamers, one all-rounder and two spinners as teenage batting sensation Vaibhav Sooryavanshi missed out on a debut.

"Unfortunately no (Sooryavanshi's debut). He's a gun player but we have some tremendous players who have done well for us so we are backing them. He will get his chance when the time comes," Iyer said at the toss, backing the top three of Sanju Samson, Abhishek Sharma and Ishan Kishan.

Teams

Ireland: Tim Tector, Ross Adair, Harry Tector, Lorcan Tucker (w/c), Benjamin Calitz, Gareth Delany, George Dockrell, Liam McCarthy, Matthew Humphreys, Jai Moondra, Matthew Hollard

India: Abhishek Sharma, Sanju Samson (w), Ishan Kishan, Shreyas Iyer (c), Tilak Varma, Shivam Dube, Axar Patel, Washington Sundar, Harshit Rana, Arshdeep Singh, Prasidh Krishna.

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