Ireland ready to open T20 World Cup with New York clash against India

T20 World Cup – Group A: India v Ireland, New York, Wednesday, 3.30pm Irish time – Sky Sports Main Event

Ireland head coach Heinrich Malan believes his side have the ability to beat the world’s best teams as they prepare for their T20 World Cup opener against India on Wednesday.

Ireland will kick off their campaign against the number-one ranked side in New York.

Ireland are ranked 10 places below their opponents but have enjoyed recent success over leading sides, beating Pakistan by five wickets in May before going on to lose the series 2-1.

Malan believes his side have what it takes to go toe to toe with top teams.

“It’s not necessarily just about the World Cup or playing against India or anyone of the top sides, we try and put a process in place and a system and a structure in place that we can play consistent, good cricket.

“Hopefully, if we do follow the process, we’ve shown over a period that we can play a good brand of cricket.

“If we do that well over time, like I’ve said, we’ve shown then you know we can beat the top sides.”

Ireland will also face sixth-ranked Pakistan alongside Canada and co-hosts the United States in the group stage, with the top two advancing to the Super 8 stage.

Ireland played India in a couple of T20s in Malahide last year, with India narrowly coming out on top with a two-run Duckworth-Lewis-Stern victory in one of the matches.

Malan is now looking forward to playing in conditions which neither side is too familiar with.

He added: “I think it’s shown in the past that the luck of the Irish has always been with us and, playing in a country which we don’t know a lot about, it is what it is.

“We’ve really had a nice opportunity to prepare and try and control some areas that we feel like we can control and part of that is making sure we do our preparation.

“India is an experienced side, which means there’s a lot of dots [to connect] and a lot of information out there. So hopefully we can look to find a couple of areas we can try and exploit.”

India have not won a T20 World Cup since 2007 and will be looking to end their 17-year wait to get their hands on the trophy.

Captain Rohit Sharma says India will continue to play with freedom despite that drought.

He said: “I’m just going to play my game and help the team in whatever way I can and get everyone together to play as a team.

“Not looking at the larger picture, I don’t think those kinds of thoughts will help so much.

“I’m sure everyone in the team have their own way of dealing with tournaments like the World Cup.

“I think it’s important not to look too far ahead. Just think about what we need to do tomorrow. Play the game well and then take it from there. We won’t think too much and put ourselves under pressure.”