India vs Ireland 1st T20I 2022 Highlights: Deepak Hooda, Hardik Pandya power India to 7-wicket win in rain-curtailed contest

Bhuvneshwar Kumar to Paul Stirling, Drifting down the leg side, Paul Stirling tries to flick but misses. It goes off his pads to fine leg and they cross for a leg bye. Ireland are away!

We are done with all the talking and it's time for the action to begin now! Indian players have made their way out to the middle. Paul Stirling and Andy Balbirnie are the openers for Ireland. It will be Bhuvneshwar Kumar to start with the ball. He should enjoy these conditions. Here we go...

Bhuvneshwar Kumar to Paul Stirling, Slightly short again, around off, Paul Stirling punches but finds the cover fielder.

Bhuvneshwar Kumar to Paul Stirling, Misunderstanding straight away. Back of a length, around middle, Stirling defends it down towards square leg and Balbirnie comes out of the crease, in search of a run. The fielder has a shy but it hits the non-striker instead as he is sent back. The ball deflects down the ground but they decide not to take a run. Good sportsmanship!

As we move closer to the start time, Suryakumar Yadav is seen on the field chatting with his teammates. This is a big positive for India that SKY is fit and raring to go again. He has been brilliant for India whenever he has played and let's hope he stays fit now. 

We are minutes away from getting underway. The Indian bowlers are going through their warm-up drills. Here are the revised conditions. Powerplay will be of 4 overs and two bowlers can bowl a maximum of three overs apiece. 

Update 10.50 IST (5.20 pm GMT) -  We have some good news, folks! The rain has stopped and the covers are coming off. We have decided to not get overexcited this time. But the next update is very promising. We have a START TIME! It's going to be a 12-overs-per-side game and the match is set to begin at 11.20 pm IST (5.50 pm GMT). 

And here is my colleague with a witty reply on Sanju Samson playing the waiting game. He quips - 'Maybe the problem for the team management is that Sanju does not believe in the waiting game when he is batting.' Glad that he is not on social media, would have been trolled for this one-liner.

Apart from the fans cursing the rain and desperately waiting for Umran Malik to steam in and bowl, social media is also flooded with messages from a section of people feeling bad for Sanju Samson. The Rajasthan skipper, who led his team to the final in the recently concluded season of the Indian T20 League, failed to find a place in the starting XI of the second-string Indian team. To be honest, we all thought Samson will get the preference but the team management decided to go with Deepak Hooda. The waiting game for Sanju also continues...

Update 10.25 pm IST (4.55 pm GMT) - Our joy lasted for just 9 minutes. Unfortunately, the rain has returned and so are the covers.

Update 10.16 pm IST (4.46 pm GMT) - The update we all were waiting for has arrived. Cricket Ireland tweets - 'The rain has stopped and the covers are coming off! There's still no word on a start time but some positive news.' Fingers crossed.

As the rain dance continues in Dublin, let’s just move away a bit eastwards and sneak into what is happening at Headingley. England are chasing a target of 296 there, they had lost 2 wickets with 51 on the board but the stand between Root and Pope has helped them recover and now they require below 200 to clean sweep New Zealand. One must say, England are the favourites going by the way this new England team under the leadership combo of Stokes and McCullum has played. You can switch tabs and enjoy that game for a while. However, don’t go far away as we continue to bring all the updates from Malahide.

Update 9.57 pm IST (4.27 pm GMT) - 'The rain is light and the super sopper is at work, but there is no update on a start time as yet...' tweets the official handle of Cricket Ireland. 

As we wait for the action to unfold here in Dublin, an Indian team in whites has completed its warm-up game against Leicestershire just some 430 km away from this Irish city. It seems that India had a decent outing with almost everyone spending some valuable time in the middle, especially in the second innings. In the batting department, Kohli, Jadeja and Gill scored the fifties while Pant and Srikar Bharat, the two Indian wicketkeepers, also had good outings with the bat. In the bowling department, the most heartening part for the Indian fans would be to see Ashwin bowling in the second innings and getting two wickets as well after he arrived late. However, the bad news coming out from the Indian camp is that the Indian skipper, Rohit Sharma who batted in the first innings has been reported covid positive and that will be a big blow to the visitors.