New York, June 6: India eased past Ireland by 8 wickets to start their T20 World Cup 2024 campaign with a win. Indian bowlers put a combined effort to bowl out Ireland for a paltry total of 96 after Rohit Sharma won the toss and opted to field. Hardik Pandya (3 for 27) was the pick of the bowlers with three wickets to his name while Arshdeep Singh and Jasprit Bumrah picked two wickets each. Meanwhile, Mohammed Siraj and Axar Patel also got a wicket apiece. In the chase, Rohit’s 52 off 37 kept India in the driving seat and the side eventually reached home in 12.2 overs. Rohit had to retire hurt after getting injured during batting.Rohit, India captain: Yeah, just a little sore (the arm). I said it at the toss as well. Quite unsure of what to expect from the pitch. Not aware on what it is to play like on a pitch that’s five months old. I don’t think the wicket settled down even when we batted second. There was enough for the bowlers. That’s pretty much what you gotta do. Try to hit those lengths consistently. All these guys have played a lot of Test cricket. Arshdeep is the only guy who hasn’t. His two wickets upfront set the tone for us. Don’t think we can play four spinners here (laughs). When we picked the team, we wanted to have the balance. If conditions are there for seamers, we wanted to have that. Spin will play a part later on. Today was a four-seamer pitch and we still managed to get two spinners who are allrounders. I don’t know what to expect from the pitch to be honest. We will prepare as if the conditions are going to be like this (for Pakistan game). This is going to be a kind of game where all XI of us will need to contribute. It was scratchy, but good to spend some time in the middle and understand what kind of shots to play there.
Jasprit Bumrah | PotM: Coming from India, with the ball seaming around, I wouldn’t complain when there’s help for bowlers. In this format you have to adapt to the conditions, you have to be proactive. Trying to stick to the plans and trying to go back to what has worked for me. You always want to cover all the bases in these conditions. You got to be prepared, very happy with the outing today.
Stirling, Ireland captain: Toss played a crucial part – stuck in to bat in overcast conditions. We needed to put a bit of pressure back on the Indian bowlers. They didn’t really miss that often. Their groupings and lengths were outstanding. Any time in the middle is crucial for us. We’ll be back here for a couple of days. Will give it a good crack against Canada.