Ireland vs India 2018: 5 takeaways from the T20I series

For Afghanistan and Ireland, two two-day lessons from Team India, in two completely polar formats, highlighted why Test cricket's newest entrants have loads of catching up to do.

Against an Indian side built with superstars, the Irish side was no match, serving as a dress-rehearsal for Kohli's men ahead of their arduous England tour.

While the matches turned out to be a damp squib for the hosts, there were some takeaways for the Indian team, before they set foot on the neighboring islands within a week's time.

Here are five key takeaways:

#5 KL Rahul is in the form of his life

It's very difficult to keep Lokesh Rahul out of the T20I team. A year ago, he was being given mixed signals from the BCCI regarding his spot in the limited-overs squad. A bumper season in the Indian Premier League, where he scored over 600 runs for the Kings XI Punjab as an opener, meant that he was on the flight to the United Kingdom.

Although Kohli preferred the tried set of Shikhar Dhawan and Rohit Sharma in the first game, experimentation guaranteed Rahul a place in the second game, and he did not disappoint.

Pulverising the Irish attack with a 36-ball 70, Rahul has made a strong case for himself before the English T20Is begin.

#4 Experimentation might not always work

Kohli scored a combined nine runs in the two games

Before the series began and after the first game, Virat Kohli said that the side will be experimenting with the middle-order. The move was best characterized when Kohli walked out to bat at No.6 in the first game, and fell for a duck, trying to slog in the final overs.

Rohit Sharma, shifted down to accommodate KL Rahul as an opener, could not fire at No.4,

What the rejigged batting order taught us is that Rahul will have to be squeezed into the playing XI, and that Suresh Raina is a crucial entity to have at No.3, at least in T20Is. Although he did not play the second game, pushing MS Dhoni up the order is something that the management might consciously try out later.

KL Rahul's form could force the selectors to give him a place in the middle-order, which is already jam-packed.

#3 Fielding could cost India dearly against England

India dropped three catches in the powerplay overs in the first game

The conditions in England could take some time to acclimatise for the newer players and even the fielding could need some tweaking. The open grounds in Ireland, which caused the ball to get breezy swirls, resulted in as many as three dropped catches inside the first powerplay in the opening game.

Against a strong English outfit that just thrashed Australia, any lapse in fielding could be detrimental to the way the end result pans out for the Indian team. In conditions that the English team will play host, the bowlers would require the fielding to back them, and maintain the standards that have been synonymous with the Indian unit of the last few years.

#2 Ireland still need catching up to do

Ireland lost the second game by 143 runs

One of the two newest entrants to Test cricket, the Ireland team needs to bridge the gap in the shorter format as well, despite playing ODIs since 2006. The first game of the series was only the second time the two sides had met in T20Is, and the gulf was evident in the way the bowling couldn't hold itself together, leaking 200 runs in back-to-back matches.

The batting, despite proven performers in the lineup, crumbled without a fight in both the games, and the 143 run drubbing in the second game exposed their frailties against world cricket's bigwig.

That said, the two matches must have given Gary Wilson's side a lot of pointers to work on. Hopefully, they are able to put up a much better fight in the coming years.

#1 Spinners could be crucial against England

Kuldeep could be crucial to India's chances in England

The Indian team is traveling with a relatively young spin brigade - there's no Ravindra Jadeja (hero of the 2013 Champions Trophy) and Ravichandran Ashwin (22 wickets in 17 ODIs in England). The trio of Yuzvendra Chahal, Kuldeep Yadav, and Washington Sundar have played a combined 44 ODIs only.

That said, their recent exploits with the white ball have ensured that at least two of the three find a place in the side, to counter-measure the big-hitting English batsmen. The fact that two of them are wrist-spinners makes their place in the side all the more integral, given the general success of the species against English batsmen in the past.

While the Ireland team is nothing to go by, 13 wickets in two games combined for the combination of Kuldeep and Chahal gives them the necessary momentum going into the England series.