Coach Heinrich Malan excited about packed calendar: It's the most cricket that Ireland have played ever
India Today
Ireland are scheduled to host India, New Zealand, Afghanistan and South Arica in a packed international schedule. They will start off with a two-match series against India.
Ireland are preparing for a packed schedule with India, New Zealand, South Africa and Afghanistan visiting their shores in the summer. This is being looked at as one of the best seasons of cricket that Ireland have ever had, which could essentially turn out to be of big benefit ahead in terms of their preparations for the World Cup.
The team will kickstart their campaign against India with a two-match T20I series. India will be led by Hardik Pandya and will showcase new talents of Indian Premier League fame.
Ahead of the series, Ireland coach Heinrich Malan sounded excited about the prospect about huge international exposure and said that it would be a huge learning curve for the team.
“Look, we've got an exciting summer lined up. It's the most cricket that Ireland have ever played—from an international point of view—in their summer. So, really excited about next week this time, when we will have a full house outside of the Malahide for the first two games against India in the T20 format. It's been a while since the boys have obviously played in front of people—and in front of full crowds. So yes, it's bound to be an exciting little period for us. It's going to be a defining period for us as an international side,” the South Africa born coach told Cricket.com.
Asked about the strategy that they would try to employ against global powerhouse India, Malan said that adaptability is key in the international standard.
“Look, I guess that's the fun part of international cricket. Things change quickly and you've got to be adaptable. We've been playing domestically—here, the interprovincial competition has been going on. So the boys have played a lot of cricket. But, in the same breath, the weather will play its part as well, which is always a part of the wonderful game of cricket. We know that the players that we're going to compete against over the next six weeks have all played a lot of cricket—whether it's been in the IPL or for the international teams. And I guess that's the challenge for us,” he said.
The coach further added that a lot of effort has been put in data, but the main focus remains to be playing good cricket against quality opponents.
