India and Ireland are set for a two-match T20I series, with Shreyas Iyer leading a new-look Indian side. The series highlights the potential debut of Indian-origin pacer Jai Moondra for Ireland, who is set to face the country of his birth after a remarkable journey from Rajasthan.
Team India and Ireland will lock horns in the upcoming two-match T20I series, with the opening game taking place at the Civil Service Cricket Ground in Belfast on Friday. India and Ireland are facing off for the first time since the 2024 T20 World Cup, where the Men in Blue defeated the Irish side by 8 wickets.
The two sides will meet for the ninth time in T20Is when India and Ireland take the field in the series opener in Belfast. In their previous eight encounters in the shortest format, the Men in Blue have emerged victorious on every occasion, highlighting the one-sided nature of the rivalry.
India will be led by new captain Shreyas Iyer, who succeeded T20 World Cup-winning skipper Suryakumar Yadav, while Ireland will be captained by Lorcan Tucker after Paul Stirling stepped down following the team's group-stage exit at the 2026 T20 World Cup.
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Indian-Origin in Ireland Squad
As the spotlight is on the young Indian batting sensation Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, who is potentially set to make his international debut in the T20I series against Ireland, there is another fascinating subcontinental connection making headlines.
The Irish squad features Indian-origin left-arm pacer Jai Moondra, who is set to make his international debut for Ireland against the county of his birth. With five frontline bowlers, including Joshua Little, Mark Adair, Curtis Campher, Barry McCarthy, and Jordan Neil, who were unavailable due to respective injuries, the selection committee was forced to look at domestic depth.
Jai Moondra’s consistent performance in domestic cricket, where he plays for Leinster Cricket Club and Leinster Lightning, earned him a spot in the 15-member Ireland squad for the two-match T20I series against Team India.
With an inclusion in the Ireland squad for the bilateral series at the international level, Jai Moondra became the fifth Indian-origin player after Simi Singh, Raman Lamba, MV Narasimha Rao, and Robin Waters to represent the Irish side, bringing a unique cross-border flair to the historic bilateral contest at Stormont.
Who Is Jai Moondra?
Jai Moondra was born on January 10, 1997. Moondra hails from the Tonk district of Rajasthan, where his late father, Giriraj Moondra, was a businessman who ran an ancestral engine parts shop. Moondra’s father played a pivotal role in pushing him to passion for the sport despite the lack of formal cricket academies in the area.
After completing his graduation in 2019, Moondra moved to Ireland on a student visa in 2021 to pursue M.Tech in Electronics and Communication at Technological University Dublin. While pursuing postgraduate studies, the 29-year-old pacer continued chasing his passion for leather-ball cricket, playing for the local club side Leinster Lightning.
Following his completion of M.Tech, Moondra was working as a Product Development Engineer at Intel Corporation's Leixlip facility in Ireland, before leaving his corporate career to pursue cricket professionally. In 2025, Jai Moondra gave up his Indian citizenship and obtained an Irish passport, officially paving the way for him to transition from a corporate professional to a full-time international cricketer.
Moondra’s performance on the Irish domestic circuit, where he caught the eye of national selectors, leading to a surprise call-up to the national squad for the series against the world champions. Now, he is on the verge of making his international debut against the country of his birth, completing a remarkable journey from the dusty grounds of Tonk to the international stage at Stormont.
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