India vs Ireland Prediction: Conditions could have big say

India have only won the T20 World Cup once, its inaugural 2007 edition, and expectations will be high for the side in this year’s event after they were beaten by Australia in the 50-over World Cup final last year.

They open their campaign against Ireland, who have lost all seven T20I head-to-heads between this pair, however they have beaten Pakistan, Afghanistan and the Netherlands in the build-up to this year’s tournament. Below you can find my India vs Ireland prediction.

Team News

There are plenty of question marks about the Indian side, with the potential for Virat Kohli to move up to open the batting in place of Yas Jaiswal, who did not bat against Bangladesh in their last warm-up match.

For Ireland Barry McCarthy is a doubt after not bowling in their final game before the tournament against Sri Lanka. Ben White or Graham Hume could replace him.

The pitch looks set to be a major factor. Sri Lanka made just 77 against South Africa in the first game at this venue, with varying bounce a big issue for batters

India vs Ireland Odds

India are favourites at 1/16 to get the victory in this clash, with Ireland trading at 8/1 for an upset success.

Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli are both joint 11/4 favourites to be India’s top run scorer, while for the Irish side Andy Balbirnie and Paul Stirling are 16/5 joint-favourites.

Suryakumar Yadav Top India Run Scorer @ 18/5

The difficult conditions at Nassau County International Stadium could play a big part in this game. Bowlers dominated the game between Sri Lanka and South Africa, with the Islanders being skittled for 77 before the Proteas made relatively heavy weather of chasing that total.

Pace bowlers in particular benefitted and as a result it may pay to look away from the top order when picking a top run-scorer.

Suryakumar Yadav made 31 from 18 balls in India’s final warm-up against Bangladesh and made some big scores in the recent IPL campaign.

He has knocks of 102, 56 and 78 in his last nine innings and looks a tempting price to be India’s top run scorer.

Josh Little Top Ireland Wicket Taker @ 11/4

Josh Little could benefit from the pace-favouring bowling conditions in New York and performed well in his only IPL game this season, taking 4-45.

The left-armer also has seven wickets in his last three T20 World Cup games and was twice Ireland’s highest wicket-taker in those matches. Take him to repeat the trick in this clash.

Find more Cricket Betting Tips here at Betfred Insights