Ireland all-rounder Kevin O’Brien said his side had high ambitions in the shortest format despite their recent 3-0 defeat to Afghanistan in Dehradun.
The ICC Men’s T20 World Cup is due next year in Australia, and Ireland have one eye trained towards qualifying for that tournament in an event that will take place later this year. The series against Afghanistan was a trial by fire, and Ireland lost all matches, but the senior all-rounder said that the team is looking ahead.
He insisted that Ireland had been good in periods against Afghanistan, pointing out to their effort with the ball in the first game and the batting in the next two. In the first game, Ireland’s bowlers made a fist in their defence of a modest 132/6. Then their batsmen scored heavily in the next two games in chase of 200-plus totals, including the mammoth 278/3 posted by Afghanistan in the second game.
“It’s disappointing to lose 3-0 here, although Afghanistan are a very good side,” said O’Brien. “We acquitted ourselves well in periods of all three games – especially with the ball in game one, and in the run chase in game two and three.
“We probably just lacked a little bit of experience towards the end of both innings, but we’re certainly gearing up for bigger things in the future – especially with the T20 qualifier in October. We’re starting to put some good things in place.”
O’Brien himself enjoyed good form with the bat, compiling 116 runs at 38.66 at a strike-rate of 141.46. All this after he was promoted up the order by captain Paul Stirling, who himself occupies the other opening slot. O’Brien enjoyed the promotion and hopes to get more chances there.
“I love batting at the top of the order,” he said. “I have done it for franchise teams in the past and had some success. I think our performances in the past in T20 needed a change, and hopefully this move continues to be a successful one.”
Ireland’s immediate focus will be the upcoming five-match one-day international series against Afghanistan, starting 28 February. O’Brien feels that the 50-over format has produced more even contests between the sides, and expects it to be an exciting affair.
“We’ve got to go in fresh, but still take in what we’ve learnt from the T20s with the bat and ball,” said O’Brien. “Their squad is very similar in that they have four or five guys coming in and it’s important we learn quickly from this experience and try to implement it in the 50-over game.
“It’s a format in which we’ve been more even with Afghanistan and we’re looking forward to getting started on Thursday … [We] look forward to an exciting series.”
