Ireland desperate to do well in the T20 World Cup, says all-rounder Kevin O’Brien

Star all-rounder Kevin O’Brien on Friday said that the Ireland team is desperate to do well in the T20 World Cup, starting from Sunday.

Kevin O'Brien, the architect of one of the greatest one-day cricket upsets, is looking to inspire Ireland as they attempt to make their impression at a T20 World Cup for the first time.

Ireland has proven they can compete with the big guys in white-ball cricket's lengthier format, taking out England, Pakistan, and the West Indies in the 50-over World Cup.

However, their performance in the 20-over game has been less impressive, with only three wins in 15 matches in the last five tournaments.

Their most famous victory was against Bangladesh at the 2009 World Cup in England, which helped them advance to the second stage.

Despite victories over Zimbabwe and the United Arab Emirates in 2014, they have lost at the first hurdle in every tournament afterwards.

In Ireland's first appearance on the global stage in limited-overs cricket since 2016, O'Brien is keen to make things right.

In June, Ireland's most famous face and sole Test centurion retired from one-day international cricket to concentrate on T20 and the five-day game.

"We've had a lot more success and our big victories have been in the 50-over tournament," the 37-year-old told the Irish Examiner.

"But you look back at when we beat Bangladesh in 2009 at Trent Bridge you have still had victories at T20, but lately the ones that stand out are the results we have been on the wrong side of."

"We haven't played in a World Cup since 2016 so it's been a long time for us to rectify that."

O'Brien rose to prominence in 2011 by scoring the fastest World Cup century in the 50-over format to lead Ireland to a thrilling victory over England in India.

Ireland looked doomed when they were reduced to 111-5 in chase of 328, but O'Brien's stunning 50-ball century turned the game around.

O'Brien and Ireland plan to establish a name for themselves in the T20 format, avoiding low points like defeats to the Netherlands in 2014 and 2016, as well as a humiliating loss to debutants Oman in 2016.

Things could be different at this year's World Cup in the United Arab Emirates and Oman.

Andrew Balbirnie’s side, ranked 12th in the T20 format, only need to finish in the top two of Group A to break their World Cup drought and advance to the Super 12.

With Namibia, the Netherlands, and Sri Lanka awaiting them, their matchups appear to be winnable.

Ireland's all-time highest run scorers in the format, O'Brien and Paul Stirling, have played nearly 200 T20 internationals between them and will lead a group that lacks experience on the biggest stages.

With a string of excellent scores in warm-up matches against Zimbabwe and the United Arab Emirates, O'Brien looked to be in strong condition heading into the tournament.

Even though he is in his senior years, Captain Balbirnie recognises the value of the seasoned batsman.

"The experience we get from Kevin and the runs are so valuable to this team," the skipper told the Belfast Telegraph.

"We are all in the runs business and he has enough in the bank to know how important he is to this team."