Andrew Balbirnie, the Ireland men’s cricket team captain recently admitted that many Irish cricketers aspire to play in the Indian Premier League. His team is all set for the next match cricket series against India after losing to them by seven wickets. Let’s read on to know more.
Ireland Men’s Cricket Team Captain Andrew Balbirnie And His Teammates Have The Ambition To Feature In Ipl
Recently, Andrew Balbirnie admitted that he along with his cricket squad wants to play in the Indian Premier League. Currently, the Irish team is preparing to play better after losing to India by seven wickets in the T20 league match held on the 26th of June.
The team captain shared that they would like to play in similar leagues like the Indian Premier League which helps the cricketers to develop their skills. The Indian men’s cricket team, under the leadership of Hardik Pandya, was scheduled to beat Ireland in two-match T20I series.
Sources close to the league say that the second match will be also held at The Village in Dublin. Furthermore, the first batch of Indian cricketers had arrived in Ireland before to take part in the short two-match assignment. The second match is set to include the likes of skipper Pandya along with the head coach for the tour – VVS Laxman. Both reached Ireland on Friday, June 24.
The overseas T20I series is helping Indian cricket test its bench strength. Furthermore, it is giving them a chance to fringe players to present a case for selection in the forthcoming white-ball series against England. Thus, this cricket series is going to be a great learning series for the hosts
And before opening against India, Ireland skipper Andrew Balbirnie had spoken to The Times of India during his talk on Sunday, 26 June. At that time, a lot of Indian players were under great pressure because many of them were looking forward to filling in the spot in the main playing XI.
The 31 years old middle-order batter said, “They (India) have such a number of experienced players in the T20 format. They have a squad in England for the Test match, and then there’s a squad that’s coming down to Ireland to play us in T20Is. They are all looking to impress. There are a lot of players in this Indian T20 side who are looking for a spot in the full-strength team. So, they will be under pressure also.”
Andrew Balbirnie also admitted that many players in his country have an ambition to play in the Indian Premier League (IPL). Furthermore, he described the cash-rich league as the pinnacle of T20 cricket.
Here is what the Ireland cricket team captain said
“We have a number of players who are good at the T20 format. We are all aware of how competitive it is to get into the IPL. That’s a huge ambition for a lot of us. That’s the pinnacle of T20 cricket.”
He further added, “You see how quickly certain players develop when they get access to the league. We have a number of players who play in different leagues but not the IPL. When they come back to the Irish team, they bring a lot of experience and learning.”
In the end, we can say that Ireland’s cricket team has many brilliant players. If they wish to be a part of IPL, they need to be highly skilled. It would be impressive to see which player the IPL board chooses if they wish to select any player from this team.