In order to gear up for the approaching T20 World Cup in Australia, Afghanistan and Ireland will look to strengthen their bases as they are set to collide against each other in the shortest format of the game. This series will take place at the Shaheed Vijay Singh Pathik Sports Complex in Greater Noida, which is Afghanistan's adopted home venue.
The Blue Tigers will start as the favourites in this series because they have multiple T20 specialists like Rashid Khan, Mohammad Nabi, Mujeeb ur Rahman and Hazratullah Zazai in their squad. In fact, Zazai had blown away the Irish bowling attack the last time these two sides competed in a T20I series.
Hence, Ireland will look to improve their performance from the last tour and give Asghar Afghan's side a run for their money in the upcoming matches. Andrew Balbirnie will lead the Irish team which consists of the likes of Paul Stirling, Kevin O' Brien, and Josh Little.
Also see – RCB squad
Stirling and O'Brien, two of the team's most experienced players, will have the onus of supporting Balbirnie in the leadership group besides contributing their bit in the batting and bowling departments. It will be interesting to see if the two Irish stars can inspire their side to a win in the three-match series.
Here is all you need to know about this match.
Afghanistan vs Ireland 1st T20I match details
Venue: Greater Noida Sports Complex Ground, Greater Noida
Date: 6 March 2020
Time: 6:00 PM IST
Predicted XIs
Afghanistan: Hazratullah Zazai, Rahmanullah Gurbaz (wk), Karim Janat, Asghar Afghan (c), Najibullah Zadran, Mohammad Nabi, Rashid Khan, Gulbadin Naib, Mujeeb ur Rahman, Qais Ahmad, Naveen ul Haq.
Ireland: Paul Stirling, Kevin O'Brien, Andrew Balbirnie (c), Gareth Delany, Harry Tector, Lorcan Tucker (wk), Simi Singh, George Dockrell, Josh Little, Craig Young, Barry McCarthy
Where to watch the matches?
Afghanistan v Ireland 1st T20I will be telecast LIVE on the RTA Sports HD in Afghanistan.
Live stream details
The live stream for Afghanistan vs Ireland 1st T20I will be available on rtasports.live.
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