Belfast, June 26 (IANS) India all-rounder Shivam Dube acknowledged Ireland’s impressive batting effort after the hosts posted a competitive 182/9 in the opening T20I of the series at the Civil Service Cricket Club in Belfast on Friday, saying India will have to produce a quality batting performance to chase down the target.

After India had reduced Ireland to 36/3 inside the Power-play, captain Lorcan Tucker’s well-made 50 and Gareth Delany’s aggressive 49 guided the hosts to a strong total. Dube, who claimed the crucial wicket of Benjamin Calitz with a well-disguised slower delivery, admitted Ireland recovered brilliantly from the early setbacks.

“Definitely, they batted really well. Amazing batting by all of them. And I think it’s a good total. We have to bat really well to achieve this total,” Dube said during the innings break.

The all-rounder bowled an important spell in the middle overs and said sticking to hard lengths was the key on the Belfast surface. “On these kinds of conditions, you need to bowl on the hard lengths. So that was my plan, you told me I’m a genuine all-rounder, so I have to bowl,” he quipped,” he explained.

Dube also spoke about India’s experience of touring Ireland, saying the team has enjoyed playing in the country after previously featuring in Dublin. “It’s great. We really enjoy playing in Ireland. We played in Dublin. It was really good. Now we are here… The crowd is amazing. The wicket is good. We are really enjoying this,” he said.

Reflecting on India’s recent success in T20 cricket, Dube stressed that the squad remains focused on future challenges rather than dwelling on past achievements. “For us, it’s not important what we have done in the past. As a player, what our coach said to us is, You have to focus on the future. What we have done is past now. We are focusing on what we can do next,” he added.

India requires 183 runs to take a 1-0 lead in the three-match T20I series after Harshit Rana led the bowling effort with figures of 3/24, while Arshdeep Singh and Axar Patel picked up two wickets apiece.

–IANS

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