India vs Ireland- Sooryavanshi’s potential debut faces 88% rain threat:Shreyas Iyer era in Indian cricket starts, first series after T20 World Cup

The time for talk is done and now, the action takes centre stage, T20 world champions India are all set to be in action against Ireland in a two-match T20I series, the first of which will be played on 26 June. The Civil Service Cricket Club in Stormont, Belfast, is set to host the series, and it promises to be a cracker of a contest between the teams, with all eyes on Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, the 15-year-old boy wonder. Vaibhav Sooryavanshi poised for debut, Shreyas’ first game as captain It would not be too wrong to say that most of the buzz around the India vs Ireland T20I series is focused on Sooryavanshi. The teenager has enthralled the cricket world with his explosive batting and fans would be eagerly looking forward to him lighting up the Irish skies with his batting fireworks. It is India’s first game since becoming the T20 world champions and they will be under a new captain in Shreyas Iyer, who took over the reins from Suryakumar Yadav. How he fares on his T20I return after three years, that too as captain, will be interesting to see. India vs Ireland match details Match: India vs Ireland, 1st T20I
Venue: Civil Service Cricket Club in Stormont, Belfast
Date: Friday, 26 June, 2026
Time: 6:00 PM IST (Indian Standard Time)
How to follow: Sony Sports Network (telecast) and SonyLIV (streaming)
Where to follow: Bhaskar English app Ishan, Arshdeep the standout T20I stars for India this year India have had a standout year in T20I cricket and one of the engines behind the success of the Men in Blue has been Ishan Kishan. The left-hander has made a stellar comeback to the national team in white-ball formats and stands out with 532 runs in 13 T20Is this year. The southpaw also has had a strike rate of 207, and although a big part of the spotlight would be on Sooryavanshi, Ireland would look past Ishan at their own peril. In the bowling front, Jasprit Bumrah and Varun Chakaravarthy are joint highest wicket-takers with 18 scalps, but they are not part of this series. Arshdeep is the next best with 17 wickets in T20Is this year, and his performance will have a say in the final outcome of this series. The left-arm pacer did not have a good IPL but can be backed to bounce back. Ireland look to Humphreys, Tucker for inspiration Ireland, like India, will be under a new captain- Lorcan Tucker, who was recently appointed skipper after Paul Stirling had stepped down from the role. Tucker, a wicketkeeper-batter, has scored 250 runs in eight T20Is this year. Left-arm spinner Humphreys has taken 13 wickets in eight T20I appearances and his best in the format has been 4/16 this year. India vs Ireland head-to-head in T20Is Unsurprisingly, India and Ireland have had a pretty one-sided rivalry in T20I cricket. The two teams have faced each other eight times in the shortest format and India have won on all occasions. The last time India toured Ireland was in 2023, where the Men in Blue had won 2-0. India and Ireland’s last meeting was at the 2024 T20 World Cup where the Indian team then led by Rohit Sharma had beaten Ireland by eight wickets in a low-scoring contest. Civil Service Cricket Club pitch report It will be India’s first match at this venue, which is expected to provide assistance to the faster bowlers up front. Batting might get easier as the game progresses and with some explosive hitters on a show, scores in the region of 180-200 cannot be ruled out totally. Belfast weather report The weather, as per Accuweather, is expected to be cloudy at the time of the match (6:00 PM IST), which is 1:30 PM local time. And what’s concerning is that there’s an 88% chance of rain. The temperature might be around 24 degrees Celsius.