Andrew Balbirnie was a 16-year-old teenager when Ireland shocked the world at the 2007 Cricket World Cup.
The story, at this stage, is well told, as Adrian Birrell’s side caused a real commotion at the Caribbean-hosted event, qualifying, against all odds, for the Super 8 stage of the competition, beating the mighty Pakistan en route, on St Patrick’s Day.
Three years later, Dubliner Balbirnie would rub shoulders with this team of heroes who put cricket firmly in the national conversation.
By 2015 the top order batsman was well established in the Ireland squad and enjoyed his own cherished World Cup moments at the New Zealand-hosted tournament, being part of the side that beat the West Indies at the Saxton Oval in Nelson.
Ireland won three out of their six Pool B matches at the event and while they just missed out on a place in the knock-out stage, on net run rate, Balbirnie was key to the victory over Zimbabwe, hitting 97 as Ireland won by just five runs in a highly entertaining encounter.
That World Cup squad from 2007 remained largely intact for the guts of a decade after that Caribbean adventure, which allowed players like Balbirnie to play without too much pressure, guided by the vast experience that existed in the squad.
Players like Kevin O’Brien, Boyd Rankin and captain William Porterfield remain entrenched in the Ireland squad, while other 2007 World Cup veterans like Niall O’Brien and Ed Joyce – albeit playing for England at that particular tournament – were right there up to last summer when Ireland played that historic first ever Test match against Pakistan in Malahide.
Test match number two is now on the horizon, as Ireland have landed in India to begin a month-long, nine-match series with fellow, recently inducted ICC full-members Afghanistan.
Balbirnie played in last summer’s Test opener, and now the onus will be on the 28-year-old to add some authority as one of the more experienced players in the squad.
Ireland open with three T20 matches, followed by a five-match one day series against Afghanistan, with all games taking place in the northern Indian city of Dehradun.
The nine-match schedule will finish with the highly anticipated Test encounter, with both sides looking for their maiden Test victory – Afghanistan were beaten in their opening venture in that format, losing to India last summer.
"It’s my first trip that I’ve been representing ‘the oldies’ in the football matches, which is a big shock to the system," said Balbirnie, speaking from the Ireland camp in India, in relation to the traditional warm-up football match the team plays ahead of matches.
"It has been great to finally get going and playing outside - we’ve been doing a lot of indoor training at North County over the winter, which is great but does get frustrating after a while as the surface there is very different to the challenges we were to face in Oman and now here in India."
Ireland warmed-up, literally, and of course in the cricketing sense with a warm-weather training camp and played three T20 matches in Oman en route to India, beating the host nation and the Netherlands, while losing to Scotland.
"The conditions in Oman were excellent, the wickets and facilities particularly were first-class. It allowed me personally to just concentrate on my game – particularly moving well and doing the basics well.
"But one thing that really helped was the batting camp we had in Bangalore in December. It was very beneficial, not just for this tour but for any tour, as the volume of batting we did in tough conditions mentally gave us the confidence to produce during the big games in these warm countries."
And it all appears to be paying off for Balbirnie who hit his highest T20 score in the victory over the Netherlands, 83 from 50 balls, in what was his 89th match in Ireland colours.
"My game plan going out to bat against the Netherlands, after losing Stirlo [Paul Stirling] early, was simple, give myself a couple of balls and then assess where my best scoring options were and go on from there," added Balbirnie.
This evolving Ireland squad also sees a new man leading the side, as the aforementioned Stirling is now captain of the T20 team. And Balbirnie has been impressed by the stylish batsman’s early endeavours in the role.
"There’s a good feeling amongst the squad at present. Stirlo has been excellent so far, leading from the front with the bat and demanding high standards in everything we do, and it has been great having the newer guys around."
William Porterfield, however, will return to lead the side following the opening three T20 matches in India and will assume duties for the five-match ODI series and the Test match.
Opponents Afghanistan have, perhaps, moved ahead of Ireland over recent years, qualifying for the this year’s Cricket World Cup – a feat Ireland failed to match – although recent signs within the Ireland set-up suggest that the Blarney Army are starting to show some good form going into a very competitive year of first class cricket, which includes another historic occasion, a Test match at Lord’s this summer.
"Over the next few weeks we’ll be playing three different formats of the game and I think at this stage it will mainly be a mental adjustment to switch in and out of the formats," added Balbirnie.
"All formats are difficult in their own right, but for me the principles of batting mainly stay the same, like hitting the ball as straight and late as possible."
Ireland play the first of nine matches against Afghanistan on Thursday in Dehradun. The series ends with a Test match at the same venue from 15-19 March.
Tour Schedule
21 February: Afghanistan v Ireland - 1st T20I – start time of 6.30pm (local time) or 1pm (GMT)
23 February: Afghanistan v Ireland - 2nd T20I – start time of 6.30pm (local time) or 1pm (GMT)
24 February: Afghanistan v Ireland - 3rd T20I – start time of 6.30pm (local time) or 1pm (GMT)
28 February: Afghanistan v Ireland - 1st ODI – start time of 2.30pm (local time) or 9am (GMT)
2 March: Afghanistan v Ireland - 2nd ODI – start time of 2.30pm (local time) or 9am (GMT)
5 March: Afghanistan v Ireland - 3rd ODI – start time of 2.30pm (local time) or 9am (GMT)
8 March: Afghanistan v Ireland - 4th ODI – start time of 2.30pm (local time) or 9am (GMT)
10 March: Afghanistan v Ireland - 5th ODI – start time of 2.30pm (local time) or 9am (GMT)
15–19 March: Afghanistan v Ireland - Test Match – start time of 10am (local time) or 4.30am (GMT)
