Jai Moondra earned a maiden call-up to the Ireland Men’s T20 squad for the India series, and Andrew White rang him last Friday to deliver the news. The 29-year-old said he was speechless, a reaction that fits a selection built on a long route back into fast bowling and into Ireland’s international mix.
Andrew White’s phone call
White, the National Men’s Selector, told him last Friday that he had made the squad. Moondra said he was speechless when the call came, and that reaction captured the scale of the move: a player who once thought his cricket journey would end has now been pulled into an international squad for Ireland Men.
The selection also puts him into a rare setting. Moondra was born in Tonk near Jaipur in India, moved to Ireland in 2021 for a Master’s Degree in Electronics and Communication, and then kept building his game in Dublin. He joined Leinster Cricket Club in Dublin and was part of the Irish Senior Cup winning team in 2023.
From college job to fast bowling
His path to this squad was not linear. Moondra said he quit cricket after college in 2019 because he thought his cricket journey would be over if he got a full-time corporate job. He took a step back, played casually, and later found fast bowling again after starting as a top-order batter and left-arm spinner at 16.
That change matters because it explains why the call-up is not a routine domestic reward. Moondra joined an academy to develop his fast bowling technique, and he described the Irish domestic scene as competitive and welcoming. He said the pressure of big moments and the feeling of improving kept him pushing for another chance.
India series challenge
Moondra’s own words make the next step clear. He said he wants to test and perform on the best platform against the best teams and the best players, and he called playing against India “another class of feeling.” He also said international cricket had always been a dream and that he was grateful to Cricket Ireland for the opportunity.
He brings a clear bowling identity into the squad as a left-arm bowler. Moondra said his angle is his strength, and that with the new ball he tries to use the swing, hit the pad, hit the stumps, and get a few across the batter. Whether that is enough to win him a place in the side for the India series is the next selection call that matters.
