Peter O'Reilly
Former Ireland cricketer on BBC Radio 5 Sports Extra 3

We are still in the power play and Lorcan Tucker is playing like he knows he needs to stay in. He needs to occupy the crease for a while to give Ireland a chance.

Image source, Getty Images

Lorcan Tucker with three singles off Arshdeep Singh to get him off and running.

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Ben Calitz is in with Lorcan Tucker to complete the over as Ireland add five more to their total.

Peter O'Reilly
Former Ireland cricketer on BBC Radio 5 Sports Extra 3

I'm disappointed Vaibhav Sooryavanshi wasn't involved today and I'm hoping he'll be involved on Sunday. He is such an exciting talent and we all wanted to see him today.

New T20 captain Lorcan Tucker comes in for Ireland for the end of the third over that the hosts register another five runs in.

Ed Joyce
Former Ireland women's coach on BBC Radio 5 Sports Extra 3

That's the danger of T20 cricket. He's been part of Ireland getting off to a decent start. An all action start to the game.

Harry Tector joins brother Tim for Ireland for the end of the second over which yielded another 10 runs.

No, it's quite pleasant at the moment. Main thing is the wet stuff is staying away at the moment, which isn't always the case in Belfast of course.

A good opening over for Ireland.

Tim Tector smacks a big six off the last ball in the over from Arshdeep Singh.

We're off and running in Stormont with Tim Tector up first and batting for Ireland and Arshdeep Singh for India.

It will be something of a new-look Ireland this week with injuries depriving the side of some key figures.

However, there is also an opportunity for new faces "to test their skills against the best T20 side in the world" according to Gary Wilson.

Leading Ireland this week will be Lorcan Tucker who has been appointed permanent T20I captain, taking over from the injured Paul Stirling.

While juggling his wicketkeeping and batting duties along with the the role as captain could prove a challenge, Wilson feels there is "no better man" to fill the role.

"He's incredibly well planned, he's diligent and one of our best players, so I think he is more than ready for the challenge," he said.

"He's the respect of his peers and staff, so I'm excited to see what he will bring.

"He'll have his senior players on the pitch as well, so it [instruction] will get around everyone else."

Image source, Getty Images

The teams are out so it's time for the anthems at Stormont.

Image source, Getty Images

Ireland assistant coach Gary Wilson says their two T20 matches against India at Stormont are a great way to get "everyone excited about a World Cup" that will be co-hosted by England, Scotland and Ireland in 2030.

The Belfast venue is in line to host matches during the tournament and local fans will get a taste of what is to come when the current world champions arrive for matches on Friday and Sunday [both 13:30 BST].

Ireland managed one win from its four matches in this year's edition which was held in India and Sri Lanka, with the game against Zimbabwe abandoned.

Due to their ICC ranking, Ireland are assured of a place in the 2028 tournament and while their immediate focus will be on next year's ODI World Cup qualifiers following this weekend's T20 internationals, Wilson feels their place in the next two T20 World Cups gives them room to plan ahead for the shorter format.

"Our next T20 match will probably be in 2027," Wilson told BBC Sport NI.

"We will have an ODI [50 overs format] focus after this and naturally so with the World Cup qualifiers coming up in the new year, so for a little while, T20 cricket will take a back seat.

"It's a new cycle and the good thing is we know we have qualified for not just 2028, but 2030 as well and that allows real planning.

"Our desire should be for 2030 and a home World Cup where we will look to get everyone engaged and we'll make a play like that. Why can't we do a Kenya from 2003 and reach a semi-final or go as far as possible? That should be everyone's goal."

You can listen to radio commentary of today's game on Radio 5 Sports Extra and BBC Sounds now.

Michael McNamee is joined by Greg Mollins, Peter O’Reilly and Ed Joyce.

Image source, BBC Sport

Image source, Getty Images

Ireland captain Lorcan Tucker speaking about the challenge of facing world champions India:

"They're one of the best T20 teams there's ever been and their performances in the World Cup showed that. The way they play, the measure they play but also the IPL and the opportunities that gives younger players. I suppose that's come to fruition with Sooryavanshi coming into their squad.

"I think we're lucky to play them at home. We haven't played much T20 cricket recently but I think the ground here is different.

"We've watched the IPL closely and a lot of the research we've done before will be from the IPL, but the grounds there are a little bit smaller, the wickets are incredibly flat. Here it'll be a slower pitch and bigger boundaries and we're hoping that might just change the tempo of the game and suit us slightly."

Ireland hand international debuts to Jai Moondra and Matt Hollard while there's a first T20I start for Liam McCarthy.

There's no Vaibhav Sooryavanshi in what is an experienced India team.

Ireland: Tim Tector, Ross Adair, Harry Tector, Lorcan Tucker (capt), Ben Calitz, Gareth Delany, George Dockrell, Liam McCarthy, Matthew Humphreys, Jai Moondra, Matt Hollard.

India: Abhishek Sharma, Sansu Samson, Shreyas Iyer (capt), Tilak Varma, Shivam Dube, Axar Patel, Washington Sundar, Harshit Rana, Arshdeep Singh, Prasidh Krishna.