Aakash Chopra picks India's playing XI for must-win 2nd T20I vs Ireland, suggests two changes

India lost the first T20I at the Civil Service Cricket Club in Belfast against Ireland on Friday, June 26, by 34 runs to go 0-1 down in the two-match series. On Sunday, the two teams will meet at the same venue to play the decisive second T20I.

Prasidh Krishna was abysmal with the ball in the first T20I. The tall right-arm pacer conceded 57 runs in his four overs, a spell that injected momentum into the Ireland innings. Former India opener Aakash Chopra highlighted Krishna's dismal numbers in T20I cricket and urged the team management to hand a debut to Prince Yadav. The latter recently made his international debut against Afghanistan in the ODI series. On Sunday, he could earn his maiden T20I cap.

"I feel Prasidh Krishna will have to go out. He has played six T20Is, and he has conceded a lot of runs. He has conceded nearly 275 runs in 24 overs, has an economy of 11.5, and has eight wickets in total to his name. You feel he is a Test bowler and can bowl well in ODIs. In T20s, he comes with conditions applied," Chopra said in a video on his YouTube channel.

So he is not your out-and-out T20 bowler. Of course, what he does for the Gujarat Titans makes us feel that he will be fine, but that's the Gujarat Titans, and they have a different setup. However, if we talk about T20Is, he is a weak link for sure. So he goes out. Prince Yadav is sitting outside in this team. He comes in. So I feel Prince Yadav can get a chance here. He can make his T20I debut here. You should make one change where Prince comes in and Prasidh goes out," he observed.

"You have 2 options left" - Aakash Chopra on the other change in India's playing 11 for IRE vs IND 2026 2nd T20I

Apart from this, Chopra suggested that seam-bowling all-rounder Suryansh Shedge could make his debut, replacing Washington Sundar. The cricketer-turned-commentator said that Sundar's bowling might not be needed in Irish conditions, which favour seamers more than spinners.

"The second change I am thinking about is that you should leave Washington Sundar out because you are not going to bowl him in these conditions. Shivam Dube is already bowling decently. So you have two options left. Either give the T20I cap to Suryansh Shedge because we need batting as well, although you already have Axar Patel at No. 7, and you still find Harshit Rana at No. 8. You can play out-and-out bowlers from Nos. 9 to 11," Chopra observed.

However, Chopra believes that the best decision would be to play Ravi Bishnoi, a specialist spinner, in place of Sundar.

"For that, Ravi Bishnoi's name will definitely come to my mind. In fact, I would like to play Bishnoi against this team. I will ask Suryansh Shdege to wait a little. Let's take a chance and go with an extra bowler, a proper bowler, and we shall figure it out," he elaborated.

Aakash Chopra questions Sundar's utilization after 1st T20I

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Aakash Chopra's India playing XI for second T20I versus Ireland: Abhishek Sharma, Sanju Samson, Ishan Kishan, Shreyas Iyer, Tilak Varma, Shivam Dube, Axar Patel, Harshit Rana, Arshdeep Singh, Prince Yadav, Ravi Bishnoi.