Ireland All Set for Dream Debut in Test Cricket

DUBLIN - With 26 years of continuous efforts and struggle on the back, the dream to play the cricket’s elite format is going to realise for Ireland this Friday when they take on Pakistan in the historic debut Test in Dublin.

The pain to lose a spot in World Cup might heal when the Irish nation witnesses their side entering into the ground for the most respected formate of cricket.

There is no doubt that the nation deserves this after playing top class cricket for over a decade.

Ever since they played international cricket, they have always left their impact on the game, they were always a step ahead of their fellow associate members, somewhere close to world top cricket nations, always pushing harder and harder.

The rise of Irish cricket began when they stunned Pakistan in World Cup 2007on St Patrick's Day. A match that brought tears into the eyes of departing captain Inzamam-ul-Haq', a moment that took Bob Woolmer's life.

Inzimam, the current chief selector of Pakistan, would have the memories of the horrible day somewhere in the back of his mind when his 'boys' face Irish army tomorrow.

100 runs off just 50 balls! 🔥#OnThisDay in 2011, @KevinOBrien113 blasted the fastest ever @cricketworldcup century as Ireland recorded the biggest successful chase in the tournament's history in a famous win against England! pic.twitter.com/EyADIj3jdx

— ICC (@ICC) March 2, 2018

They repeated the performance against arch-rivals England in WC 2011 and the against West Indies in WC 2015 again.

The irony is, Irish have been playing cricket ever since the inception of this game; but never really got the breakthrough, primarily because financial issues and secondarily because England always took away their best talent with the attraction of better opportunities and a promising future.

Now that, they have finally got the long-dreamed chance, their performance in this format will be keenly observed as Test cricket can be brutal. Teams like New Zealand waited for 26 years (45 Tests) to register their first Test win, Bangladesh, on the other hand, played 35 games before tasting the victory.