Cricket Ireland has officially disclosed the squad for the Ireland National Cricket Team ahead of their Test, ODI, and T20I clashes against the Afghanistan National Cricket Team. This series features a solitary Test match followed by a three-game T20I series and a three-match ODI series. The initial showdown will be the Test match scheduled from February 28 to March 3 in Abu Dhabi.

Subsequently, attention will turn to the three ODIs, set to take place on March 7, 9, and 12 in Sharjah, followed by the T20I series on March 15, 17, and 18 in the same venue.

Of note, the impending Test match marks only the second encounter between the Ireland National Cricket Team and the Afghanistan National Cricket Team, with their inaugural Test clash dating back to 2019, wherein Afghanistan emerged victorious by a margin of 7 wickets.

Furthermore, the Ireland National Cricket Team will receive backing from its coaching staff throughout the Afghanistan series, including head coach Heinrich Malan, batting coach Gary Wilson, pace bowling coach Ryan Eagleson, and spin bowling coach Chris Brown.

Moreover, the Ireland National Cricket Team will see Andrew Balbirnie and Paul Stirling, serving as regular captains, leading the squads. Balbirnie will helm the team in the one-off Test matches, while Stirling will take the reins for the limited overs series.

The Ireland selection committee has introduced four fresh faces to the Test squad: Matthew Foster, Barry McCarthy, Theo van Woerkom, and Craig Young. Among them, Matthew Foster is the sole player yet to make his international debut in white-ball cricket.

In terms of Ireland’s Test cricket journey, it commenced in 2018, marking the beginning of their venture into the longest format. To date, they have contested merely seven Test matches, the most recent being against England in 2023. Afghanistan’s trajectory in Test cricket mirrors Ireland’s closely, with their initiation into the format also occurring in 2018. They have participated in eight Test matches thus far, with the latest encounter against Sri Lanka transpiring in February 2024.

Full squad for Ireland’s Test, ODI, and T20I Teams Against Afghanistan

Test Squad:

• Mark Adair
• Andrew Balbirnie (Captain)
• Curtis Campher
• George Dockrell
• Matthew Foster
• Graham Hume
• Andy McBrine
• Barry McCarthy
• James McCollum
• PJ Moor
• Paul Stirling
• Harry Tector
• Lorcan Tucker
• Theo van Woerkom
• Craig Young

ODI Squad:

• Mark Adair
• Andrew Balbirnie
• Curtis Campher
• Gareth Delany
• George Dockrell
• Matthew Foster
• Graham Hume
• Andy McBrine
• Barry McCarthy
• Neil Rock
• Paul Stirling (Captain)
• Harry Tector
• Lorcan Tucker
• Theo van Woerkom
• Craig Young

T20I Squad:

• Mark Adair
• Ross Adair
• Andrew Balbirnie
• Curtis Campher
• Gareth Delany
• George Dockrell
• Graham Hume
• Josh Little
• Barry McCarthy
• Neil Rock
• Paul Stirling (Captain)
• Harry Tector
• Lorcan Tucker
• Ben White
• Craig Young

Complete Series Schedule:

Only Test Match – February 28 to March 3, Abu Dhabi; Starts at 10 am

1st ODI – March 7, Sharjah; Starts at 3:30 pm

2nd ODI – March 9, Sharjah; Starts at 3:30 pm

3rd ODI – March 12, Sharjah; Starts at 3:30 pm

1st T20I – March 15, Sharjah; Starts at 8 pm

2nd T20I – March 17, Sharjah; Starts at 8 pm

3rd T20I – March 18, Sharjah; Starts at 8 pm

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The Indian team clinched their second consecutive victory against Ireland, showcasing an even more dominant performance in comparison to the initial T20I match. Opting to bat first, India saw a robust start from the opening combination of Yashasvi Jaiswal and Ruturaj Gaikwad. However, the Irish bowlers responded in a sound fashion by claiming 2 wickets within a span of 3 deliveries, placing India in a dicey situation. Nevertheless, the partnership between Ruturaj and Sanju Samson had different intentions, as they meticulously crafted a 69-run alliance, firmly establishing India in a commanding position.

Rinku Singh and Shivam Dube shouldered the responsibility of adding the final flourishes, accumulating 41 runs during the concluding two overs, thereby injecting crucial momentum into the Indian team’s performance. Conversely, the Irish side encountered a shaky commencement as Prasidh Krishna swiftly made his mark with early breakthroughs through his brisk, hard length deliveries. Andrew Balbirnie emerged as the pillar of Ireland’s innings, sustaining their hopes with a series of captivating shots. Despite Mark Adair’s impressive display showcase of power hitting in the death overs, the pursuit of 185 proved futile for Ireland, arriving a tad too late.

Read More: Performance Analysis: Jasprit Bumrah’s Triumphant Return to Dominate the Pitch against Ireland – Cricket Winner

In this article, we will delve into the performance of Prasidh Krishna and Andrew Balbirnie by utilizing the pitch map and shot-type map.

Prasidh Krishna’s Commanding Spell

A small introduction to the pitch map for our new viewers. The purple dots represent the dot deliveries, the red dot represents the dismissals, the green dot represents the boundaries conceded and the blue dot is runs conceded other than boundaries.

The above pitch map are the deliveries bowled in the first two overs (left to right) of Prasidh Krishna’s spell. In this spell he conceded just 3 runs while he picked up two wickets. A quick glance of the chart gives us an idea on how Prasidh’s lines have stretched between the middle stump and outside the off stump which is the perfect channel to bowl at. He has always been a bowler who is skillful at executing the hard length deliveries, which are pitched between the good length and short length region.

He secured the initial two wickets by delivering a brisk, short-length ball that landed approximately around the 5th stump channel. This enticed the batsmen to attempt a pull shot, but the additional pace of the delivery led to a mistimed shot, resulting in the ball being caught comfortably by the fielder. He bowled much better lines in the second over thus keeping the batters on their toes.

The above pitch map are the deliveries bowled in the 3rd and 4th over (left to right) of Prasidh Krishna’s spell. He came in the latter stages of the innings and bowled the 15th and 19th over of the innings. In the former over, he relied completely on the back of the length and short length deliveries, while maintaining tight lines.

When he came back in the 19th over, the game was almost done and dusted. While he did try to bowl some hard lengths, he got better results with the yorker and low full toss deliveries. While he was slightly inaccurate with his lengths, his yorkers were absolutely pinpoint and he would hope to improve on his consistency in the death overs.

Andrew Balbirnie’s resilient innings

Andrew Balbirnie’s display highlighted a wide array of magnificent and conventional cricketing shots. Particularly impressive was his impeccable execution of the back foot pull shot, accounting for nearly 30 percent of his overall runs. Generally, batsmen tend to accumulate more runs with front foot shots, but Balbirnie’s innings stood out for the substantial portion of runs garnered through backfoot play, amounting to approximately 52 percent of his total runs.

He also showed prowess in the sweep shot with close to 20 percent of his runs accumulated with this shot. Likewise, his adept flick shots didn’t go unnoticed, contributing to 20 percent of his total runs scored.