The Indian men’s cricket team will travel to Belfast to play Ireland in a two-match T20I series later this year, the schedule of which was announced by the BCCI on Saturday. The Ireland tour will the second international bilateral series for India after the commencement of Indian Premier League (IPL) as the Men in Blue host Afghanistan from June 6 in a one-off Test match and three One-day internationals.
This will be first time since 2007, India will be travelling a series against Ireland in Belfast. Previous, India have toured Ireland thrice in the past eight years (2018, 2022, 2023). The T20 world champions will play Ireland on June 26 and 28, which also marks their first international assignment after retaining the world title earlier this month at home.
Having won the T20 World Cup in 2024, India thus became the first team to win the global event at home and also the first to win it back-to-back times. With this win, India also became the most successful side in T20 World Cup, winning the silverware in 2007, 2024 and 2026.
India vs Ireland – only ODI in 2007
Notably, India have played seven T20Is in Ireland, winning six, while one game was abandoned due to rain. India’s only international game in Belfast came in an ODI, which the Men in Blue won by nine wickets in a match marred by rain. Batting first, Ireland rode on a fifty from Niall O’Brien to post 193 in 50 overs.
However, the game was reduced to 39 overs due to rain. India romped home in 34/5 overs with Sourav Ganguly (73 not out) and Gautam Gambhir (80 not out) starring with the bat. Incidentally, Gambhir is the India head coach while Ganguly had been a BCCI president in the past.
Massive blow to Ireland
Meanwhile, Paul Stirling has stepped down as Ireland captain in the shortest format of the game on Thursday. The decision came in after Stirling’s T20 World Cup 2026 campaign was cut short due to a knee injury against Australia in a group stage game. Lorcan Tucker took over the leadership responsibilities for the rest of their campaign.
However, Stirling will remain as Ireland’s ODI captain, with an eye to the 2027 ODI World Cup in South Africa, Zimbabwe and Namibia. In his 48 games as T20I skipper, Stirling led Ireland to 20 wins and lost 26. Two games ended in no results. Under Stirling, Ireland played two T20 World Cups in 2024 and 2026, bowing out in group stages on both occasions.
Stirling is Ireland’s most-capped player in T20Is, featuring in 163 games. The right-hander is Ireland’s leading run-getter in the format with 3895 runs.
