Match Preview: India vs Ireland

Ground reality and Pitch

The Trent Bridge cricket ground is home to the Nottinghamshire County Cricket Club. The stadium is considered to be one of the best grounds in the world to watch a cricket match due to the excellent facilities available here. Trent Bridge also features in Indian history with the cricketing great Sachin Tendulkar passing the 11,000 mark in test cricket at this ground. The pitch at Trent Bridge is tilted more in favour of the batsmen with an even bounce on offer.

Temperatures: Min - 8 C Max - 15 C | Conditions: Showers expected

Team updates - India: The sub-continent team has the batting prowess to erect a mountain of runs or scale down any challenging total even in the absence of their explosive opener Virender Sehwag, who has been injured. But their bowling - both at start and at death - is a cause of concern as they have conceded too many runs in the in the first six overs, with field restrictions in place, and also proved uneconomic towards the close. With a berth in the Super Eight Stage already in their pocket, defending champions India will look to sort out their bowling woes when they take on fellow qualifiers Ireland in the final Group A league match in the World Twenty20 Championships at Trent Bridge.

Team updates - Ireland: The Irish cricket team have been known for their surprises ever since their stunning win against Pakistan in the 2007 World Cup at the Caribbean. In a group that provided the team the best chance to qualify to the next round, Ireland made good use of it, beating their fellow minnow Bangladesh and making it to the super 8 stage. The O'Brien brothers showed their skills with the bat against Bangladesh with a combination of the hard hits and subtle strokes. Ireland would hope for the brothers to fire again against a formidable Indian bowling line-up. Although it is an inconsequential match, the Irish would have to play their best cricket against a strong Indian outfit.

X Factor:
Bat - Rohit Sharma and the O'Briens: Rohit Sharma displayed his class against the Bangladesh team and also against Pakistan during India's warm-up clash with their arch rivals. Looking in good touch, India would look at the youngster to fire in the absence of Virender Sehwag. Meanwhile, Niall O'Brien and Kevin O'Brien were in the league of their own during the Irish match against Bangladesh. Their efforts with the bat led to the Bangladeshis being shown the doors. Ireland would bank on the O'Brien brothers to fire again and put up a good show going into the super 8's.

Ball - Pragyan Ojha and Trent Johnston: The talened left-arm spinner made his mark with brilliant bowling for Hyderabad during the IPL. He carried on his form with a career best of 4/21 on his T20 debut match against Bangladesh. He would play a pivotal role for India during their super 8 campaigns. Trent Johnston looked good with the ball against the Bangladeshis, picking up wickets for Ireland up-front. He would play an important role with the ball for the Irish team during their super 8 encounters.

Numbers game:
4: The number of sixers by Yuvraj Singh during India's first match against Bangladesh. Only Chris Gayle and AB de Villiers have scored more sixers in the tournament than Yuvraj, having 6 sixers each in their tally.
6.0: With figures of 4/21 against Bangladesh, Pragyan Ojha holds the best bowling strike rate of 6.0 in the current edition of the World T20.
Sound Bytes:
He is a good batsman - that I can say - but all of a sudden comparing him to Yuvraj Singh, there is a big gap in the middle. We all know Yuvraj has proved himself. He is one of the biggest hitters and hits sixes quite consistently. He [O'Brien] is a talented cricketer but he is well below Yuvraj when it comes to hitting big sixes in this format: Indian captain MS Dhoni commenting on the hard-hitting Kevin O'Brien.

Teams:
India (From): Gautam Gambhir, Rohit Sharma, Suresh Raina, Yuvraj Singh, Mahendra Singh Dhoni(w/c), Ravindra Jadeja, Yusuf Pathan, Irfan Pathan, Harbhajan Singh, Zaheer Khan, Ishant Sharma, Praveen Kumar, Rudra Pratap Singh, Pragyan Ojha

Ireland (From): William Porterfield(c), Jeremy Bray, Niall Obrien(w), Gary Wilson, John Mooney, Kevin Obrien, Trent Johnston, Kyle McCallan, Regan West, Alex Cusack, Andre Botha, Boyd Rankin, Peter Connell, Paul Stirling, Andrew White