Ireland wicket-keeper batsman Niall O’Brien is a veteran of seven World Cups across cricket’s 50 over and T20 formats. He will be writing for Sport360.com during the 2016 World T20 in India.
As I sit high up in the mountains in Dharamsala looking over the tranquil villages surrounding our hotel, with the fantastic cricket stadium in the background, I feel amazed that I am about to embark on my eighth World Cup (three 50-over events and five T20s).
To say I feel blessed would be an understatement. I am constantly reminded by people and by myself that I have a fabulous job traveling the world playing a sport I love and getting paid for it.
This World Cup feels a little different as it will almost certainly be my last competition on the world stage and the last chance to pit my skills against the best in the world in front of millions of cricket-mad fans.
Great journey so far long may it continue ... https://t.co/GY8NJmmpld
— Niall John O Brien (@niallnobiobrien) March 6, 2016
As always, we have received a warm welcome in India. The people here are always so good to the Irish when we tour. They love to watch us play and practice, they ask questions, get photos taken and generally enjoy being in the company of cricketers.
I have been fortunate to travel to India on numerous occasions and always enjoy it. Sure it throws up some logistical nightmares at times and must be a difficult place to manage a team because often things are not as they should be or as you have been told they would be.
We turned up for our first practice only to find numerous stray dogs lounging around on the pitch and doing their business where we were due to practice. But in India you must find a way which seems to be a good motto for Ireland: whatever gets thrown at us, on or off the field, we must find a way to get the job done.
We have played a fair bit of T20 cricket over the past year as a team and we have played indifferently to be honest. Our batting has misfired but we have put in some good work in recent weeks and we are ready to go once again on the biggest stage and show the world and our supporters back home just what we are capable of.
Our group games are against Oman, Bangladesh and Netherlands, with each opponent posing a different threat.
O’Brien in action during the ICC World Cup 2007 against Pakistan in Jamaica.
Oman are somewhat of an unknown quantity – they have risen up quickly through the ranks and this is their first taste of the big stage. I can remember that feeling well, walking out onto the pitch for your first World Cup game as we did against Zimbabwe back in 2007, and they will be a bundle of excitement and nerves.
Bangladesh are the team to beat as they have been playing very good cricket in the Asia Cup, while Netherlands have plenty of self belief and some really dangerous players to back it up. It should prove to be a fascinating group, with the winners going through to face the likes of sub-continental giants India and Pakistan.
I am not a huge one for setting out personal goals but one I have for this tournament is to just go out and enjoy every moment and give it my all. After that, things are in the hands of the gods, but I think it’s really important to enjoy the moment or it can pass you by and you don’t get second chances.
Playing against the best – keeping a watchful eye on Australia star Steve Smith.
There will be battles within battles, tough times and good times, joy and despair – but I know we have a good enough side to get through to the second round, which would be good achievement and give us the chance to take on the best of the best.
I’ve always felt that I’m a big match player – it is something that both makes me happy but also annoys me as throughout my career there have been moments that I’ve let myself down against lower teams and in lesser fixtures. But this is the World Cup and I am looking forward to expressing myself on the pitch and adding some more brilliant new memories of playing on the global stage once again.
