It is in Dharamsala, situated in the outer Himalayas towards the north of the Indian state of Himachal Pradesh, where Ireland will begin their latest ascent on the global summit, as the World Twenty20 gets under way this week in the shape of its first-round qualifying tournament.
The HPCA Stadium, among the most breathtaking grounds in world cricket thanks to the Toblerone of snow-capped peaks that runs from one end of the horizon to the other, plays host to Group A, where Oman, the Netherlands and Bangladesh lie in wait for William Porterfield’s side.
Only one team out of this four, along with another from Scotland, Afghanistan, Hong Kong and Zimbabwe in Group B, will join the privileged eight when the tournament proper begins on 15 March; the 16-team competition the World Twenty20 is billed as is something of a bum steer.
Back with Ireland following a four-year absence in which an England career was pursued is their own man mountain, Boyd Rankin, who admits to some frustration at a playing field that looks as level as the Himalayan backdrop when his former country and seven others are already through to the second round by right.
“It’s going to be tough to get through this initial group with one team going through – we will have to win all three games and defeat in any just looks out of the question,” the 6ft 7in fast bowler told the Observer. “It’s annoying but that’s the way it is. We’re used to these hurdles being put in front of us.”
Going into the tournament after victory over Hong Kong and defeat to Zimbabwe in their two warm-ups, the latter by six wickets on Saturday, Ireland open up against Oman on Wednesday, before Bangladesh two days later in what has been tipped to be the group decider. Netherlands, who knocked them out at the same stage two years ago, are their final fixture on Sunday 13 March.
As one of a quartet of survivors from the 2007 World Cup team that overturned Pakistan on St Patrick’s Day in Jamaica, alongside captain Porterfield and the O’Brien brothers, Niall and Kevin, Rankin concedes this current campaign is likely to be a last hurrah together in coloured clothing, with all four now into their 30s. He said: “We’ve been lucky to have this core of players for the past 10 years and who have done well for Ireland. It’s probably the last global tournament for a few of us – we’re not getting any younger and the next one would be the 50-over World Cup in 2019, which will be just 10 teams.”
Rankin reveals it was this senior group who, despite the inevitable dressing room jibes regarding nationality, made his Ireland return at the start of 2016 so easy, just over two years after his solitary Test match for England in what was the final dose of punishment in the 2013-14 Ashes whitewash.
Looking back, Rankin concedes a shoulder problem, as well as a back spasm suffered prior to the Sydney Test, meant he should have been unavailable. Nerves and cramp would then take their toll on his performance, with just one wicket taken in the 281-run defeat. “I probably wasn’t fit but I didn’t want to let it go, in case I didn’t get another chance. I can say I have played Test cricket but it does frustrate me that I didn’t get another go because I thought I had what it takes. But I’ve moved on from it now and I’m enjoying my cricket.”
Moving on involved punishing county batsmen back with Warwickshire – he has claimed 71 wickets in 20 championship matches since – but after being overlooked for England’s winter tours at the end of last summer, Rankin decided to recommit to Ireland with a view to helping them in their long-held goal of achieving Test status.
His comeback began in whites at the end of January in a 145-run victory over Papua New Guinea, a result that gave Ireland the lead in the ICC Intercontinental Cup, the three-year first-class competition for associate sides that, as it stands, offers a shot at Test cricket to the winners provided they can go on to triumph in a four-match series against the bottom-ranked side in 2018.
Rankin added: “I’ve played for Ireland since I was a boy and it felt the right time to return and hopefully give something back. They have been really good to me, understanding why I left but welcoming me back too. It did feel a little bit strange pulling that jersey on for the first time in four years.
“The goal of achieving Test status for Ireland was a big thing for me. We would back ourselves to beat the likes of Bangladesh or Zimbabwe in a play-off, and that would see us pencilled in for a Test against England at Lord’s 2019. I would be 35 by then but it be amazing to be part of that.”
Such a convoluted process may yet be avoided if the ICC presses ahead with reported plans to add the best two associate sides to a new two-tiered Test championship. Either way, Rankin is happy to have rejoined the journey.
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