Ireland's 3 highest wicket-takers vs India in T20Is

Ireland will host India for a three-match T20I series starting on Friday. All previous five meetings between the teams have gone India's way. This time, though, the visitors have rested almost all of their key players for the tour and will be led by Jasprit Bumrah, who hasn't played any competitive cricket in 11 months.

This might be Ireland's best chance to grab a win but for that, they'll almost entirely be dependent on their fast bowlers using favorable pitches at home to put India's batting under pressure. Only seven Irish bowlers have picked up wickets in the contest so far, with only one claiming five wickets in total.

Here's a look at Ireland's three best bowlers against India and where are they now:

---

#3 Kevin O'Brien - 4 wickets

The second-most capped T20I player for Ireland, Kevin O'Brien has picked up four wickets against India, the joint-third-highest with his medium pace. He went wicketless the first time Ireland played against India in the 2009 World T20, with all of his wickets coming in the two-match T20I series in 2018.

He got Shikhar Dhawan out in the first match with a yorker. O'Brien then used his experience and the spongy tennis-ball-like bounce in the second match brilliantly to dismiss KL Rahul, Suresh Raina, and Rohit Sharma.

O'Brien retired from international cricket in 2022 after three Tests, 153 ODIs, and 110 T20Is, collecting almost 6000 runs and 172 wickets in total.

---

#2 Craig Young - 4 wickets

Craig Young picked up four wickets in two T20Is in 2018.

Right-arm pacer Craig Young was one of Ireland's best bowlers against India in the 2022 series. In the first match, he took out Ishan Kishan and Surykaumar Yadav with deliveries that cut into them off the seam at pace.

In the second, he showed that the same plans can also work in the death overs by dismissing Dinesh Karthik and Axar Patel in the same over. India scored 225 in that innings but Young had the best economy rate among all bowlers - 8.75. His four wickets have come at a brilliant average of 13.25, 10 points better than O'Brien.

The 33-year-old will come to the India series having played the Cricket Ireland Inter-Provincial Limited Over Cup and would be one to watch out for.

---

#1 Peter Chase - 5 wickets

What Craig Young managed in 2022, Peter Chase achieved in 2018. In two T20Is, just his second T20I series, the right-arm pacer picked up five wickets at an average of 15.40.

In the first match, Chase got the four biggest scaps. Suresh Raina got out in the 18th over, holing out a slower chest-high short ball to square leg. He then dismissed MS Dhoni (11 off 5), Rohit Sharma (97 off 61), and Virat Kohli (0 off 2) in four deliveries in the last over as India tried to take extra risks against his yorkers and slower ones.

Chase's 4/35 held India for a bit but the visitors still reached a massive 208/5 and sealed a 76-run win. However, his four-wicket haul is the best spell by an Irish bowler against India.

After a promising eight-year-long career, Chase retired at the age of just 28 in 2022 after suffering back-to-back season-ending injuries. He said he was looking for professional options in the corporate world.