Rahul Dravid has confirmed that the Indian team is preparing for tomorrow’s clash against Ireland in the same way as it does before facing Australia or Pakistan.

The Men in Blue are set to begin their ICC T20 World Cup 2024 campaign tomorrow at the Nassau County Stadium, New York. The Indians will take on Ireland at 8:00 pm (IST) in their first Group A match before facing other teams like Pakistan, USA and Canada in the group. This will be only the second time that Asians and Europeans meet in the T20 World Cup.

Their previous and only encounter in the competition came in the second edition of the T20 World Cup in 2009 in the United Kingdom. India had defeated Ireland by 8 wickets under the leadership of MS Dhoni. The Indian team was the reigning champion of that edition, having won the event in its inaugural season in 2007, a year before the IPL began.

Rahul Dravid says India has a lot of respect for Ireland

T20 cricket in 2009 and T20 cricket in 2024 have a big difference. The format has become much faster and much more unpredictable. Even the smallest teams can beat the big boys on their day and, at one stage of the World Cup, the minnows are nothing less than surprise packages.

During the T20 World Cup 2022 in Australia, we witnessed some shocking results. Pakistan had lost to Zimbabwe, while Holland had become the reason for South Africa’s exit from the group stage.

Keeping this in mind, Indian coach Rahul Dravid has already warned his players that Ireland might be a small team but they have a shortage of quality cricketers.

Therefore, Rahul Dravid, in his last appearance before the media from New York, admitted that the team keeps the intensity as high as possible during training. Ireland recently defeated Pakistan in a T20 match and hence cannot be taken lightly. Especially with the kind of format it is, Dravid doesn’t want to be lacking in practice.

Complacency is something that ruins a team’s performance and Rahul Dravid doesn’t want that to happen, at least in his latest assignment as India coach.

“We are preparing for this match the same way we prepared for Pakistan and Australia. There will be no shortage in our preparation. We know that they recently defeated Pakistan.”

“We know Ireland plays a lot of T20 cricket. In this format, you can’t take anyone lightly or with a glance. We definitely won’t take them lightly. We respect them a lot.” – Dravid said during a recent press conference.

Dravid says he has no problems with India’s busy schedule

Rahul Dravid was then asked to shed light on the hectic schedule of the ICC T20 World Cup 2024. As a modest personality, Dravid claims that he has no problem with the schedule of the World Cup as it is the same for everyone. and each of the teams. .

“Everyone is on the same schedule. Schedules are tight. Calendars are extremely tight. There are no complaints. It’s the same for everyone.” – Dravid concluded.