Ireland chase historic Test win on BD, SL tours

DHAKA: Ireland begin a mini tour of South Asia this week chasing a historic first Test win as well as valuable white-ball practice ahead of the ODI World Cup in India later this year.

The tourists led by skipper Andrew Balbirnie will play three One-day Internationals in Bangladesh from Saturday, followed by three Twenty20s.

From April 4 they will contest a one-off Test in Dhaka, only Ireland”s fourth Test match ever and their first in more than three years. That is followed by two Tests in Sri Lanka.

Ireland gained Test status in 2017 but have only played three Test matches, losing them all.

They did though give England a scare at Lord”s in 2019, skittling the hosts for 85 runs in their first innings.

Later that year Ireland cancelled a home Test against Bangladesh because of what their CEO Warren Deutrom described as “financial headwinds” since obtaining Test status.

For the white-ball games in Bangladesh, the Irish will bank on the experience of Balbirnie and Curtis Campher, both of whom played in this year”s Bangladesh Premier League T20 tournament.

“It was really beneficial for me,” Balbirnie said of his stint with Khulna Titans.

“I was there to see first-hand a couple of their players, some of the grounds and conditions we”re going to come up against in the next week or two.”