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Bumrah's one-liner on what to expect from debutants Rinku Singh and Prasidh Krishna in 1st T20I vs Ireland
Jasprit Bumrah handed the India caps to both Rinku Singh and Prasidh Krishna before the toss of the first T20I vs Ireland.
Rinku Singh and Prasidh Krishna made their T20I debuts for India in the first match against Ireland in Malahide on Friday. Jasprit Bumrah, who is making a comeback to international cricket after an 11-month-long injury lay-off and also leading the side in this series, handed the caps to both Rinku and Krishna before the toss of the first T20I. Krishna has already tasted international cricket -he has played 14 ODIs - but this will be the first appearance of Rinku Singh at this stage.
It is a dream come true moment for Rinku who had a breakthrough IPL season with the Kolkata Knight Riders and forced his way into the T20I side. The left-hander did the unthinkable by hitting five sixes off the last five balls off left-hander Yash Dayal when 28 runs were needed off 5 balls in an IPL 2023 match against Gujarat Titans to etch his name in the history books. That was not the end of his heroics in this year's IPL. He scored 474 runs in 14 matches for KKR at a strike rate of nearly 150. The fact that almost all of those runs came while batting at No.5 or below makes him the ideal candidate for the finisher's role in the Indian side.
The left-hander from Uttar Pradesh is no stranger to the long haul. He has an average of 57 in 42 first-class matches and knows how to construct a big innings.
In an interview with keeper-batter Jitesh Sharma, who missed out on a spot in the XI as India went in with Sanju Samson, Rinku said he got emotional seeing his printed on the Indian jersey. "It feels really good. It's the dream of every player to play for Team India. When I entered my room and saw my jersey with my name and number (35) imprinted on it, that moment was really emotional for me as that's the only thing for which I had worked really hard," Rinku told in the interview shared by bcci.tv.
Krishna, like Bumrah, is returning after a long injury break. His career was just taking flight when the right-hander was pegged with a stress fracture on his back. He will be raring to go in his maiden T20I.
Both Rinku and Krishna got perhaps one of the shortest of advice from their captain Bumrah. He told them to enjoy the occasion and nothing else. "Hopefully, they come good. Told them to just enjoy their cricket. Krishna, like me, is coming back after a long time, so told him 'welcome back'," Bumrah said when asked by former Ireland batter Nial O'Brien about what to expect from India's debutants.
India XI: Ruturaj Gaikwad, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Sanju Samson (wk), Tilak Varma, Rinku Singh, Shivam Dube, Washington Sundar, Prasidh Krishna, Arshdeep Singh, Jasprit Bumrah (c), Ravi Bishnoi.
Ireland XI: Paul Stirling (c), Andrew Balbirnie, Lorcan Tucker (wk), Harry Tector, Curtis Campher, George Dockrell, Mark Adair, Barry McCarthy, Craig Young, Joshua Little, Benjamin White.
