Ireland name T20 squads with World Cup approaching

Ireland have named their three men's T20 squads for the upcoming three-match series against Pakistan in Dublin, the Tri-Series with Netherlands and Scotland in Voorburg and the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup starting next month.

Star seamer Josh Little will tune up for the tournament with Gujarat Titans after he was allowed to remain in the Indian Premier League.

A 14-man squad face a busy build-up to next month's campaign in the United States and West Indies, with three matches against Pakistan in Clontarf followed by a tri-series against Scotland and the Netherlands, but Little will not be involved.

Instead, selectors have decided he is better off at the IPL having only just forced his way into team. He was overlooked for Gujarat's first 10 games of the season but returned at the weekend and claimed four for 45 in a losing cause against Royal Challengers Bangalore.

The Titans sit bottom of the IPL table and have three games left, after which the 24-year-old is likely to take a break before getting back on the road with his country.

Head coach Heinrich Malan said: "The squad is one that we have gradually developed and tested out over the last 18 or so months - the skill sets we need to cover are there, albeit we have allowed Josh to continue in the IPL until his side end their campaign, so he will likely join us ahead of the big tournament.

"We are now entering the final stretch before the T20 World Cup begins. It will be a challenging couple of weeks, but we're ready to tackle whatever is thrown at us.

"We have an intensive block of T20 cricket coming up this month ahead of the T20 World Cup - we have seven games in 15 days as preparation for the tournament. We will not be treating those seven games as warm-ups, though, we'll be