Indian squad from their last tour of Ireland - Where are they now?

The BCCI recently announced the Indian squad for the upcoming tour of Ireland. Hardik Pandya will lead the Indian squad for the first time in his career, while fast bowler Bhuvneshwar Kumar has been named as his deputy.

Rishabh Pant, Shreyas Iyer and KL Rahul will be unavailable for the series against Ireland. While Rahul is recovering from his injury, Iyer and Pant will fly to England on Monday (June 20) to join the Test squad ahead of the rescheduled fifth Test against Ben Stokes' side.

Rahul Tripathi, Sanju Samson and Suryakumar Yadav have replaced the aforementioned trio for the Ireland tour. The rest of the Indian squad is the same as the one contesting a five-match T20I series against South Africa right now.

The last time India toured Ireland was in 2018. The selectors then sent a full-strength squad, and the Men in Blue bashed the minnows in both T20Is. In this listicle today, we will look at the players in that squad and where they are now.

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Batters - Virat Kohli (c), Shikhar Dhawan, Rohit Sharma, Suresh Raina and Manish Pandey

Virat Kohli captained the Men in Blue in their 2018 T20I series against Ireland

Virat Kohli led the Men in Blue to a 2-0 series win over Ireland in 2018. Rohit Sharma, Shikhar Dhawan and Suresh Raina were the top three run-getters of the series. Manish Pandey scored 21 runs in two innings at a strike rate of 105.

Kohli is no longer the captain of India, but he is a regular member of the squads for all three formats. Sharma is the new all-format skipper, while Dhawan and Pandey have been dropped from the squad.

Raina announced his retirement from international cricket in 2020. He most recently worked as a commentator during the 2022 Indian Premier League (IPL) season.

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All Rounders - Hardik Pandya and Washington Sundar

Hardik Pandya will lead India in the upcoming series against Ireland

Hardik Pandya enjoyed playing against Ireland in 2018. He scored 38 runs in two innings at a strike rate of 380. With the ball, he took one wicket in six overs. Washington Sundar, on the other hand, did not play a single match.

Pandya recently won IPL 2022 as Gujarat Titans skipper and is now all set to captain the Indian team. Sundar has become a regular member of the Indian squad, but injury issues have kept him out of the team on multiple occasions.

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Wicket-keepers - KL Rahul, MS Dhoni and Dinesh Karthik

KL Rahul was the Man of the Match in the second T20I of the series thanks to his 70-run knock. MS Dhoni scored 11 runs at a strike rate of 220, while Dinesh Karthik did not get a chance to bat in the series.

Rahul is currently the Men in Blue's vice-captain, while Dhoni has retired from international cricket. The latter still leads the Chennai Super Kings in the IPL. Karthik recently made his comeback to the national team's squad for the series against South Africa and will be seen in action once again against Ireland.

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Bowlers - Yuzvendra Chahal, Kuldeep Yadav, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Jasprit Bumrah, Siddarth Kaul and Umesh Yadav

The Men in Blue went with four pacers and two spinners for the 2018 Ireland tour. Kuldeep Yadav was the highest wicket-taker of the series with seven wickets, including one four-wicket haul. Yuzvendra Chahal was right behind him with six wickets.

Jasprit Bumrah and Umesh Yadav scalped two wickets each, while Siddarth Kaul took one wicket in his maiden international series.

Kuldeep Yadav and Chahal were dropped from the squad shortly after, but have now returned thanks to their brilliant performances in the IPL. Umesh Yadav also did well in IPL 2022, but is yet to earn a recall to the T20I team.

Kaul has lost his place, while Bumrah and Bhuvneshwar Kumar are regular members of the team.