Spirited Ireland should play Full Members more often in bilateral series to stay on course

Facing the likes of Sri Lanka's Angelo Mathews or Pakistan's Mohammed Aamer will do a world of good to Irish players' confidence. However, it's imperative that Ireland continue displaying spirited efforts.

Ireland, for almost a decade, have been taking the cricketing world by storm with record-breaking performances. In ICC Cricket World Cup 2007, they outfoxed Pakistan in the group stages and progressed to the Super Eights. For a team, which was playing its maiden World Cup, to beat one of the heavyweights is indeed commendable. However, they rose to prominence when they chased down a mammoth 328-run target against England in the next Cricket World Cup in 2011. Moreover, except ICC World T20 2007 and 2016, they qualified in the other four tournaments and put up a good fight against the best of the business. FULL CRICKET SCORECARD: Ireland vs Sri Lanka 2016, 2nd ODI at Dublin

Ireland’s dominance in World Cup:

Only five times teams have successfully chased down 300 or more runs in World Cup. And, surprisingly, the Irish have attained this achievement thrice. Like mentioned earlier, they chased down England’s 327-run target followed by Netherland’s 306-run target in ICC Cricket World Cup 2011. In both these nerve-wrecking contests, Kevin O’Brien played vital knocks of 113 and unbeaten 57 respectively.

The third chase came in ICC Cricket World Cup 2015 against West Indies. O’Brien was yet again in the forefront of a rescue mission and scored an unbeaten 79 in the pursuit of 307 runs.

Not only him, but the likes of William Porterfield, Paul Stirling, Trent Johnston, among others made their mark at the international level. Read – Angelo Mathews praises Dasun Shanaka for ‘dream debut’ in Ireland vs Sri Lanka, 1st ODI at Dublin

Numbers speak volumes about Ireland’s abilities:

Overall, they have played 102 matches, with a win per cent of just over 44. They burst into the international scene just a decade ago and consistently produced spectacular performances.

Should Ireland play more bilateral series against Full Member nations?

The reason the above points were made is to reach this conclusion. Agreed that Ireland’s success was hampered by their inconsistency. However, the dominating and record-breaking performance they produce every now and then — without enough international exposure — merits the fact that they deserve to play more bilateral series.

We often see them locking horns with fellow Associate Nations. What if we see Ireland battling against the likes of India, England or even Australia for that matter. Undoubtedly, they will be outfoxed by the Full Member nations, but their spirited effort over these years is what makes them special. They are hungry for more success and are itching to wash off the underdog status. Read: Ireland vs Sri Lanka 2016, 2nd ODI at Dublin, Predictions and Preview: Visitors aim for series win

Hence, it will only help cricket grow if an ever-improving Associate Nation such as Ireland play more bilateral series against the Full Members.

Ireland lost to Sri Lanka in the first match of their two-match One-Day International (ODI) series. The second contest is scheduled to be play on June 17. Moreover, they will face off against Pakistan in a two-match ODI series in August. Facing the likes of Sri Lanka’s Angelo Mathews or Pakistan’s Mohammed Aamer will do a world of good to their confidence. However, it’s imperative that they continue displaying spirited efforts.

(Kaustubh S. Mayekar, a reporter at CricketCountry, played cricket at U-16 level. Like his idol Rahul Dravid, he often shadow-practises cricket shots. His Twitter handle is @kaumedy_)

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