Asia

Disappointing lack of Test cricket but great opportunity against best in T20 series: George Dockrell against Ireland against India

June 20, 2022
Henry Club

Kenny Carroll was an Irish cricketer who played in the 2007 ODI World Cup. He also tried to play in the London Olympics as a hockey player but Ireland failed to qualify. What could an Irish player do in those days? Kenny turns out to be a postman, holding a grey-clothed postbag of dreams, regrets and hopes in Dublin. Fortunately, things have changed a bit now. The central contract and with it comes not only security but excitement, says George Dockrell, who has played 198 international games for Ireland across all formats and will head the team for the upcoming two T20Is against India on June 26 and 28. are part.

“It’s been incredibly exciting, playing with Ireland over the past decade and seeing how much Irish cricket has evolved”, the 29-year-old tells Dockrell Indian Express, Dockrell was one of the first 19 players to be awarded a central contract from Cricket Ireland in 2020 (the first year in which all contracts were awarded on a full-time basis).

“It’s been a lot of changes. Most certainly, better support for players to come back home, and there’s a lot of Irish people in Ireland now, most of them. It’s great to see that kind of domestic structure develop. Sure. There are obviously a lot of areas that we still need to work on in terms of facilities and taking that domestic game to the standard. But it’s wonderful to see how far it has come. For Irish cricket It’s exciting to see how far we can go from here in the next 10 years.

During his career spanning 193 international games across all formats for Ireland, Dockrell has made four appearances against India. Twice in the ODI World Cup (2011 and 2015) and in two T20Is at home in the summer of 2018. Dockrell says the upcoming T20 series against India in a ‘very special way’ is going to be ‘A’. ‘Big summer’ for Ireland cricket.

Dockrell has played against India four times. Twice in the ODI World Cup (2011 and 2015) and twice in T20Is back at home in the summer of 2018. (Twitter/George Dockrell)

“It’s a great opportunity to test yourself against the best in the world,” he says. “I think starting the international summer for India, it is always going to be huge for us. Last time we played them in Dublin (2018), it was two sell out games. The atmosphere was absolutely electric. It’s always exciting when you have a game against India, and the buzz that it creates. ,

The Indian team that travels to Ireland this week has notable changes compared to the squad that played in Dublin four years ago. Many big names from the current India white ball lineup including the captain Rohit Sharma are part of the squad England For the one-off Test early next month. Stand-in Captain Hardik Pandya, Dinesh Karthik, Bhuvneshwar Kumar And Yuzvendra Chahal The only common links are between two two-match series in the span of four years in Ireland.

For most Indian players traveling to Ireland, this will be their first foray into cricket in UK conditions. However, Dockrell believes there is not a strong argument to suggest that visitors are heading to the series on the backfoot.

“Look, it is two-pronged in the sense that there will be some inexperience in the context of that group, but at the same time, it is a hungry group of cricketers who are trying to make their mark in international cricket,” said the slow left-hander. Orthodox say. “Yeah, there’s a lot of personnel changes. With concurrent squads playing around the world, I think it’s quite different. It’s something we’ve seen more and more of of late. But I think for that Indian team. Plus, it’s still loaded with some world-class players.”

Recalling his experiences of playing against India in 2011, 2015 and 2016, Dockrell says, “Every time I have taken the field against India, every single person you go up against, that’s where you are. Pushes you to where you want to be at this level of international cricket.”

The Irish international adds to this depth for India and other international sides, across formats, the IPL and T20 franchise leagues across the world.

“Now you have people who have played a huge amount of IPL before making their India debut,” he says. “You get to test yourself against the best players in the world on that platform. You have cricketers who come to the international stage with a lot of cricket under their belt, and are therefore better prepared. This means you have a large group of players to choose from who are at that level. These leagues have been great at letting players develop. When they get a chance (for national sides), they are a little better. And we can see that as I say in these split format squads we are seeing now in international cricket. ,

‘Exciting next 10 years for Irish cricket’

Dockrell made his Ireland debut in February 2010. The men’s cricket team made remarkable first impressions in world tournaments, defeating Pakistan in their first ODI World Cup in 2007 and Bangladesh in their first T20 World Cup in 2009. Since then, Ireland has been a regular in the white-ball World Cup, with the exception of the 2019 ODI World Cup in England, which was reduced to 10 teams from 14 in the previous edition.

Test cricket: love and despair

Dockrell says he loves all three formats of the game. But he has a special gleam in his eyes when it comes to Test cricket.

“I have loved Test cricket, the longer format all my life,” he says.

The Ireland all-rounder had to wait nine years and 142 white-ball appearances before getting his first and only cap ever in the red-ball format. In the only test match against Afghanistan at Dehradun. Since then, the men in green have played only one more Test, accounting for a total of three in their history.

“The lack of Test cricket over the years has been disappointing for us,” says Dockrell. “Now, I understand there are financial restrictions and reasons behind these series, but playing multi-day cricket is incredibly important. This is where you learn a lot about your sport. Spending time in the middle, bowling a lot. I think it’s incredibly important to develop players, even players who have already made it, but it can often be a big part of them to spend a lot of time in between. . It’s very important to keep moving the game around the world.”

“Again, I understand there are logistical issues and things that are bigger than I think, but as a player, of course, I want to look at longer format cricket. Saare Jahan Mein,” he added.

Watch live coverage of Ireland vs India – 1st and 2nd T20I matches Sony Six (English), Sony Ten 3 (Hindi) and Sony Ten 4 (Tamil and Telugu) channels on 26 and 28 June 2022 at 9:00 PM IST.