IRE vs IND: All eyes on Bumrah; India's Gen-Next stars are set to shine

Ireland vs India Jasprit Bumrah will be the focus of all eyes when he leads India against Ireland in a threematch T20 International series that begins Friday after 11 months hobbling off the fieldThe side is full of Indias GenNext IPL talents like Ruturaj Gaikwad Rinku Singh and Jitesh Sharma but stakeholders in Indian cricket will be watching Bumrah closely as he will be crucial to the home teams plans for the ODI World Cup which begins in less than two monthsBumrah 29 is back after undergoing surgery to heal lowerback stress fractures he suffered during a home series against Australia ahead of the T20 World Cup last yearHe will bowl a maximum of 12 overs in three games over five days but this series will provide Ajit Agarkar ODI skipper Rohit Sharma and head coach Rahul Dravid a good indication of where the Gujarat slinger stands in terms of match fitness However 50over cricket is a different beast requiring him to deliver 10 overs in two three or maybe fourover periodsThe BCCI uploaded Bumrahs bowling footage on its official social media handle in which he was seen rushing a righthander with a welldisguised shortball and then almost yorked a lefthander with a toecrusher a reassuring sight for the Indian team management The match circumstances will be quite different and both Dravid and Rohit have previously burned their hands by hurrying him too soon before the T20 World Cup in Australia last yearThe outcomes were devastating That was his final series before the longest layoff in his sevenyear international careerHe was named to a home series earlier this year only to be pulled out at the last minute due to a careerthreatening injuryThe Ireland series not only gives Bumrah an ideal opportunity to add miles to his legs but will also help him get ready for the Asia Cup where he will be pitted against the likes of Babar Azam upfront on September 2Ireland led by Andrew Balbirnie with useful players like Harry Tector Lorcan Tucker leftarm spinner George Dockrell are a quality side in the shortest format even though they are yet to win a match against India till now Their leftarm seamer Josh Little was an integral part of Gujarat Titans squad last year and wouldnt mind to show what he is capable of against an Indian team full of performersAlso Read Ireland vs India Tickets for first two T20Is sold outThe players in this Indian team save Bumrah and Sanju Samson will be vying for gold medal at the Asian Games in Hangzhou and the core team would be keen to make most of the three T20IsThe one player whose place would surely be under the scanner is Sanju Samson He is unlikely to get into the playing XI unless head coach Sitanshu Kotak gets a standing instruction from main team management to play the Kerala man ahead of Asia CupTwo exciting IPL finds Jitesh and Rinku are expected to get their T20 India caps while Shivam Dube would be itching for a shot at redemptionJust like Bumrah even Prasidh Krishna is making a comeback to competitive cricket and before his lower back stress fracture injury which also required a surgery the Bengaluru fast bowler was a certainty in ODI setup It is expected that selectors would check out Krishnas form before taking a final call on the Asia Cup squad expected to be announced by the end of this weekIt will be interesting to see how players and the team management balance individual and team goals while keeping the big picture in mindSquadsIndia Jasprit Bumrah C Ruturaj Gaikwad VC Yashasvi Jaiswal Tilak Varma Rinku Singh Sanju Samson wk Jitesh Sharma wk Shivam Dube Washington Sundar Shahbaz Ahmed Ravi Bishnoi Prasidh Krishna Arshdeep Singh Mukesh Kumar Avesh KhanIreland Andrew Balbirnie captain Harry Tector Lorcan Tucker Ross Adair Mark Adair Curtis Campher Gareth Delany George Dockrell Fionn Hand Josh Little Barry McCarthy Ben White Craig Young Theo van WeorkomWith agency inputs