T20 World Cup 2024: Team India bring back fielding medal ceremony but with a twist in the tale after Ireland win

Team India (IND) got off to a brilliant start in the T20 World Cup 2024. The side took on Ireland (IRE) in their first game of the tournament on June 5 in New York. Limiting the side to a total of 96 runs in the first innings, the Men in Blue managed to chase down the target in 12.2 overs, winning the game by eight wickets. 

After the game, Team India continued the tradition of giving a prize medal to the best fielder in the game. The side did the same in the ODI World Cup 2023, with clips of the same going viral all over social media. 

After the clash against Ireland, India’s fielding coach, T. Dilip, came forward to nominate Rishabh Pant and Mohammed Siraj as the two contenders to win the medal. However, this time an interesting twist was added by the fielding coach. Instead of inviting a cricket legend or calling other coaches in the set-up, the fielding coach decided to give a lifetime memorable chance to a young fan to visit Team India's dressing room and give the medal to the winner. Besides, in what was an icing on the cake, the young fan was accompanied by none other than the star leg spinner Yuzvendra Chahal.

Furthermore, the young fan can be seen having a sweet short interaction with the in-form Indian pacer Arshdeep Singh. Notably, during his interaction with Singh, the young fan revealed that his father was a big fan of the pacer. Eventually, the fielding medal was distributed by this young kid who hails from New York. For the first game, the coveted medal was awarded to the frontline pacer, Mohammed Siraj.

Check out Team India's fielding medal ceremony here:

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India dominate Ireland to win first game of the tournament

Speaking of the clash between India and Ireland, both sides locked horns at the Nassau County International Cricket Stadium in New York, in the eighth game of the tournament on (Wednesday) June 5. The game began with Ireland coming in to bat first after losing the toss.

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The side opened with Andy Balbirnie and Paul Stirling scoring five and two runs, respectively. Lorcan Tucker added 10 runs on the board, with Curtis Campher scoring 12 and Gareth Delany scoring 26 runs, as Ireland posted a total of 96 runs in the first innings. 

As for India, Hardik Pandya was the highest wicket-taker with three wickets. Arshdeep Singh and Jasprit Bumrah took two wickets each, with Mohammed Siraj and Axar Patel taking one wicket each. Aiming to chase down the meagre total, Rohit Sharma propelled India to a good start, scoring 52 runs in 37 deliveries, with Rishabh Pant staying unbeaten on a score of 36 runs as India won the game by eight wickets.