IRE vs IND: Indian-born cricketer all set to play against India

Indian selectors picked a strong squad for the upcoming Ireland T20I series keeping England tour in mind. The Indian side will play two T20Is in the series on 27th and 29th June. MSK Prasad-led Indian selection committee appointed Virat Kohli as the skipper after he was deemed fit following his neck injury, that led him to skip the county stint for Surrey.

Ireland also selected the squad and appointed Gary Wilson as the captain after Willaim Porterfield announced captaincy resignation recently. The latter wants to focus on leading Test and ODI sides after leading the T20I side for a decade. However, he will play for the side as a batsman in the shortest format of the game.

Indian-born Irish cricketer to represent against India

What’s more interesting name in the squad is Simi Singh, who is an Indian-born cricketer. The 31-year-old Simranjit Singh has been included in the Ireland squad and he will take against the Indian team in the T20I series. Simi was born in Mohali and represented Punjab side in U14, U17 and U19 levels. But, he was dropped from the Punjab U19 side, which gave him a chance to look at wider options.

Singh’s close friend who was then living in Ireland suggested him an idea of settling in Dublin and continue playing his favourite sport. “That time, I thought the career had hit a road-block and I had to take a decision,” he had said, about his move to shift base,” he said to Sportstar. During his days with Punjab team, Simit was teammates with Manpreet Gony and Gurkeerat Singh.

He was picked in a second-division side in Ireland and that’s when things changed for Simi Singh. Though he played as a batsman for Punjab, Simi kept his focus on learning spin bowling as many batsmen in Ireland find it tough to face spin. He was later named in the Ireland squad as an all-rounder.

Ireland’s T20I squad for India series: Gary Wilson (C), Andrew Balbirnie, Peter Chase, George Dockrell, Joshua Little, Andy McBrine, Kevin O’Brien, William Porterfield, Stuart Poynter, Boyd Rankin, James Shannon, Simi Singh, Paul Stirling, Stuart Thompson.