Malahide, Jun 26 (IANS):Rain delayed the start of the first T20I between Ireland and India, here on Sunday.

The rain has been playing hide and seek as the toss was also delayed due to the same reason.

During a brief period without rain, Hardik Pandya won the toss in his first match as India captain and opted to bowl first against Ireland, considering the weather forecast.

Deepak Hooda and Suryakumar Yadav got their places back in the Indian side in place of Shreyas Iyer and Rishabh Pant, who are in England with the Test squad.

Meanwhile, young pacer Umran Malik was handed his India cap. He is playing in place of Harshal Patel.

On the other hand, Conor Olphert made his debut for Ireland.

However, the rain showed up again after the toss and the covers were out and as a result, the start of the game was delayed.

Playing XI:

Ireland: Paul Stirling, Andrew Balbirnie (c), Gareth Delany, Harry Tector, Lorcan Tucker (wk), George Dockrell, Mark Adair, Andy McBrine, Craig Young, Joshua Little, Conor Olphert

India: Ruturaj Gaikwad, Ishan Kishan, Deepak Hooda, Suryakumar Yadav, Hardik Pandya (c), Dinesh Karthik (wk), Axar Patel, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Avesh Khan, Yuzvendra Chahal, Umran Malik