A revitalised India will be hoping to launch their lengthy tour of the United Kingdom on a positive note when they take on World Cup giant-killers Ireland in a one-off limited-overs cricket match in Belfast, Ireland, on Saturday.
India, who will then take on South Africa in a three-match series in Belfast, followed by a one-off ODI against Pakistan in Scotland and a full-fledged series against England over the next two months, would be hoping that the remote venue of Belfast would set the tone for the gruelling season ahead.
In a country where sports like soccer and rugby are a passion, cricket suddenly seems to have caught the imagination of the people here, thanks to Ireland's splendid run in their World Cup debut a little over two months back.
The Indians are not only loving their anonymity and the chance to walk down the streets freely, but they are also going about their task in a business like manner.
The few training sessions they have had in the last 48 hours have been intense with every player keen to shake off the rust and get into the groove at the earliest.
Weather permitting, their opening game against Ireland might not stretch them too much, but after the horrors of the World Cup, Rahul Dravid and his team just cannot afford to take anything lightly.
The return of Sourav Ganguly at the top of the order gives the Indian batting a formidable look, with Dravid, Sachin Tendulkar and Yuvraj Singh settled in the middle order.
Mahendra Dhoni, who now has the additional responsibility of being the vice-captain, can look to open up his shoulders against the lesser lights.
S Sreesanth and Ajit Agarkar are vying for a place in the pace department along with Zaheer Khan and Rudra Pratap Singh while Ramesh Powar will be the lone spinner in the side.
Ganguly too has expressed his desire to slip in a few overs for the side.
On the other hand, the hosts will be looking to rekindle the fond memories of their dream-run in the recent 2007 World Cup.
For the record, Trent Johnson's supremely fit and committed bunch of cricketers set aside the challenge of Canada before stealing the thunder with a sensational tie against Zimbabwe.
More importantly, they went on to knock down Pakistan, who made a shocking first-round exit like India, before upsetting the applecart of another Test playing nation in Bangladesh in their second round clash.
However, while Ireland's World Cup run has been the stuff dreams are made of, their team has undergone a sea change in the sense that no less than six players from the World Cup would be missing from its ranks for various reasons.
While players like Andre Botha, Dave Langford-Smith and Boyd Rankir have been laid low by injuries, all-rounder Peter Gillespie has called it a day since then.
Besides, their two key batsmen in Jeremy Bray and Eoin Morgan have declared themselves unavailable for the match.
Morgan, in fact, has opted out only because he is too keen to represent English County Middlesex, eyeing a future in the England squad some day.
"The team is unrecognizable from the World Cup but I hope the boys who have been to the West Indies can led from the front and put up a strong performance," said host all-rounder Andrew White.
White, incidentally, was the star performer with the bat, scoring 40 off 46 balls for Ireland in their first-ever One-day international at home against England last year.
Ireland might have undergone some changes, but White is pretty confident that his team's World Cup experience will hold them in good stead.
"We are well over the time when Irish players were looking at the badge on the front of the helmet or the name on the shirt.
"We are now bowling at the stumps and looking at the ball. Having faced the best, and beaten them, we don't fear anyone and we know that we can compete if we play well on the day," explained White.
Accordingly, skipper Trent Johnson, the O'Brien brothers Kevin and Niall, batsmen William Porterfield and all-rouder Andrew White, who once shared the Northamptonshire dressing room with Ganguly, would do well to inspire the green horns in the side to give a good account of themselves in what will certainly be a big occasion for Ireland cricket.
Since Ireland will be playing only its second and third one-day internationals at home on Saturday and Sunday (against South Africa) respectively, the Ireland Cricket Union expects the Civil Service Cricket Club ground to wear a healthy look in the stands even though the capacity is just around 6,000.
Then again, given the dicey nature of the weather this time of the year, the weather gods too have to be kind so that people come in large numbers to pledge their support to the national team.
The teams (from):
India: Rahul Dravid (captain), Sourav Ganguly, Gautam Gambhir, Sachin Tendulkar, Yuvraj Singh, Mahendra Singh Dhoni, Dinesh Karthik, Ramesh Powar, Zaheer Khan, S Sreesanth, R P Singh, Ajit Agarkar, Robin Uthappa, Rohit Sharma and Piyush Chawla.
Ireland: Trent Johnston (captain), Kenny Carroll, Alex Cusack, Thinus Fourie, Dominick Joyce, Gary Kidd, Kyle McCallan, Kevin O' Brien, Niall O' Brien, William Porterfield, Roger Whelan, Andrew White and Gary Wilson.
