India to play two white ball games in Ireland in June
The Indian men's team is likely to play two white-ball matches in Ireland in late June. While the format of the games is yet to be revealed by the authorities, Cricbuzz understands they are most likely to be in the T20 format. A formal joint announcement by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) and Cricket Ireland (CI) is expected by the end of the day.
The two matches will be sandwiched between the mixed home series against Afghanistan and the away white-ball series in England. While the exact dates will be confirmed after the official announcement, the games are expected to be held in the fourth week of June.
Cricbuzz understands that players, coaches and other support staff were hinted about the short stopover in Dublin during the recent BCCI awards night in New Delhi. It will mark the first international assignment for Suryakumar Yadav's side post their World Cup triumph earlier this month.
As already declared by the BCCI, India are engaged with Afghanistan till June 20 when the last of the four home matches (one Test and three ODIs) will be played. They will play their first of the five T20Is and three ODIs against England in Chester-le-Street on July 1 which means the team will have to reach England at least three-four days before that game.
Usually India have played three matches whenever they've visited Ireland in recent years (2018, 2022 and 2023) but finding a window has been an issue. The series has been in the works for the last few months and the deliberations, obviously, have been to find a proper, albeit brief, window to squeeze the matches between the Afghanistan and England series.
Cricbuzz reported about the packed 12-month schedule for the World Cup-winning T20 side as the BCCI is working on a few new series in addition to the declared ones in England, the UAE, Bangladesh, Japan (for the Asian Games).
