Ireland have included off-spinner Andy McBrine and left-arm fast bowler Joshua Little in their 14-man squad for the forthcoming two-T20I series against India. The two T20Is against India will both be played at Dublin, on June 27 and June 29. Little has been given a chance to impress the selectors after a series of impressive performances in the Inter-Provincial Series for Leinster Lightning. The 18-year-old became the youngest debutant to play for the Ireland men's team in a T20 International against Hong Kong in 2016. McBrine, 25, makes the squad after a slew of positive performances for the North West Warriors, claiming six wickets in his last four games.
"The selectors have chosen what we believe to be a strong, in-form squad for this format of the game that balances experience with youth," said Andrew White, Chairman of National Men's Selectors for Cricket Ireland. "Our deliberations were around finding a side that was competitive now, but with an eye to the future.
"Many in the squad will be either travelling to Sussex this weekend for the Ed Joyce Testimonial match on Sunday, or will be re-joining the senior squad from their English County sides. We had a good look at a number of players on the recent Tri-Series in the Netherlands and this weekend's match in Sussex will firm up the decisions made on the final playing eleven for the first fixture on Wednesday."
"We will continue our approach of providing opportunities for a wider pool of players to gain experience in T20 cricket on the international stage. With around 12 months to go to the World T20 Cup qualifiers, we are looking to build a competitive squad for that qualification stage and hopefully to propel us into the main tournament in 2020," White added.
Ireland T20 squad for India series: Gary Wilson (captain), Andrew Balbirnie, Peter Chase, George Dockrell, Josh Little, Andrew McBrine, Kevin O'Brien, William Porterfield, Stuart Poynter, Boyd Rankin, James Shannon, Simi Singh, Paul Stirling, Stuart Thompson.