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Team India is all set to start its UK tour with 1scheduled tribe T20I against Ireland today, 6pm IST (1:30pm local time) at the Civil Service Cricket Ground in Stormont, Belfast. A few days before the match, Belfast was in the news due to civil unrest, which cast a shadow of uncertainty over the first match. Now, it is the weather forecast that has raised some doubts.
The 2-match T20I series against Ireland will mark a new T20I cycle for the Indian cricket team after winning the 2026 T20 World Cup. Since retaining the trophy, there have been many changes in the team, including a change in captaincy.
Shreyas Iyer’s first match as India captain
Shreyas Iyer has joined the team as captain after a long absence from T20 Internationals in place of Suryakumar Yadav, who has been left out of the leadership role and the team altogether due to a prolonged slump.
Iyer, who proved his leadership abilities and batting skills as a captain in the Indian Premier League (IPL) with three different franchises including Punjab Kings, last played for India in the format against Australia in December 2023. It will be interesting to see who the Mumbaikar will bat with tonight after a long absence, and that too with the new responsibility of leading the national team in overseas conditions.
The match in Ireland is in danger due to a possible storm
If we consider the weather conditions, there will be a possibility of rain during the match too, but slightly less than during the day. An alert has been issued for moderate thunderstorms throughout the day in the Northern Ireland region.
According to the UK Met Office, “While they will not persist in many places, sporadic storms may either move in from the south or clear away later in the day for the remainder of this morning and especially this afternoon and evening.”
“The west of Northern Ireland is probably most at risk of storms, but some activity may be seen elsewhere within the warning area. Where storms occur, heavy rain, large hail, strong winds and frequent lightning are possible, with some locations seeing 15-30 mm of rain in a short period.”
As the forecast says, the weather conditions are expected to improve after this evening; However, the Ireland vs India 1st T20 match may be disrupted due to adverse weather. According to local time, the match will start at 1:30 pm.
Vaibhav Suryavanshi is on the verge of debut in Team India
Along with Shreyas Iyer, this match has also become a topic of discussion because of Vaibhav Suryavashi. At the age of 15, the budding batsman is on the verge of making his debut for the senior national cricket team. Will he make his Team India debut tonight? The question remains.
Suryavanshi, who is an opening batsman, becomes a headache for the team management, as the team has many proven top-order batsmen like Abhishek Sharma, Sanju Samson and Ishan Ishan, who helped the team win the 2026 T20 World Cup. At present, due to team selection, the chances of seeing Vaibhav Suryavanshi bat tonight seem a little less.