India captain Jasprit Bumrah won the toss and opted to field against Ireland in the first T20I in Malahide on Friday. Bumrah has been out of action since September last year. Earlier this year, Bumrah had undergone a surgery in New Zealand. Since then, he had been undergoing rehab at the National Cricket Academy (NCA). Last month, the BCCI had announced that Bumrah would lead the team in Ireland, with the likes of Rohit Sharma and Hardik Pandya rested.
Making his comeback after almost 11 months, Bumrah said: "We'll bowl first, very happy to be here. The weather looks lovely. I feel good, looking forward to play some cricket. You realise what you were missing, very happy to be back. We expect nothing short of a fight from Ireland. As a fast bowler, I hope the pitch does something. We have two debuts - Rinku and Prasidh Krishna. Told them to just enjoy their cricket," Bumrah said at the toss.
Earlier, India confirmed that IPL sensation Rinku Singh will be making his debut, alongside pacer Prasidh Krishna. Just like Bumrah, Krishna has been out of action due to a back issue.
India XI: 1 Yashasvi Jaiswal, 2 Ruturaj Gaikwad, 3 Sanju Samson (wk), 4 Tilak Varma, 5 Rinku Singh, 6 Shivam Dube, 7 Washington Sundar, 8 Arshdeep Singh, 9 Ravi Bishnoi, 10 Jasprit Bumrah (capt), 11 Prasidh Krishna
Ireland XI: 1 Paul Stirling (capt), 2 Andrew Balbirnie, 3 Lorcan Tucker (wk), 4 Harry Tector, 5 Curtis Campher, 6 George Dockrell, 7 Mark Adair, 8 Barry McCarthy, 9 Craig Young, 10 Josh Little, 11 Ben White