Ireland captain Gaby Lewis believes her team “has the ability to get one or two wins” in the three-match one-day series against India, which starts on Friday in Rajkot.
Ireland have never beaten India in 12 previous ODIs, but the hosts will go into the first bilateral series between the teams without captain Harmanpreet Kaur and fast bowler Renuka Singh, who took 10 wickets in the recent 3-0 ODI victory over the West Indies.
Smriti Mandhana will captain the hosts, whose bowling lineup includes the relatively inexperienced pair of Titas Sadhu and Saima Thakor.
“We’ve really enjoyed it here so far,” Ireland captain Lewis said ahead of the three-match series, which will be one of the final series scheduled for the 2022-25 ICC Women’s Championship.
We’re looking forward to the game and hopefully we can get a win on the board.
Lewis says Ireland can be competitive after white-ball victories over Sri Lanka and England last summer and then recording a 3-0 T20 series win in Bangladesh – although that came after losing the ODI by as much as the hosts dominated.
“We have some great young players who are developing,” added the Ireland captain.
“We have seen over the last 12 months that we can challenge the top nations. We had a great summer beating Sri Lanka and England. The only way is for us as a team.”
Ireland will be without injured goalkeeper Amy Hunter, who has been replaced by Joanna Loughran.
The remaining matches of the series will be played on Sunday and Wednesday in Rajkot.
