Why Paul Stirling is Not Playing Today in IRE vs OMA T20 World Cup 2026?

The 22nd match of the ongoing T20 World Cup 2026 is being played between the two teams, Ireland and Oman, who are at the bottom of the Group B points table. The contest is being hosted by the Sinhalese Sports Club in Colombo. Meanwhile, Oman skipper opted to bowl first after winning the toss. However, the star Irish player and skipper, Paul Stirling, isn't included in the team's playing XI for the IRE vs OMA T20 World Cup 2026.

Why Paul Stirling is Not Playing Today Against Oman?

Ireland's regular skipper, Paul Stirling, injured his knee during Ireland's last match, which was against Australia, after which the team suffered a huge blow as Stirling was ruled out of the remainder of the tournament. Ireland will be missing the services of one of the best T20 batsman in the world in remaining tournament. Ireland cricket has already named Paul Stirling replacement for the tournament as Sam Topping has been included in the squad. Ireland's Director of High Performance, Graeme West said

Interestingly, Topping hasn't played a single T20I match in his career and would be making his T20 debut in the ongoing T20 World Cup, only if he gets the chance to play.

Tim Tector to Open Against Oman

As Paul Stirling is out of the tournament, Ireland cricket have given the opening responsibility against the Oman side to Tim Tector, a 22-year-old young batter. Unlike Stirling, Tector doesn’t have much experience of playing on a big platform. The right-handed batter has played only five T20I matches so far in his career, scoring 94 runs at an average of 23.50, with the best batting performance of 38 runs came against Bangladesh in 2025.