Paul Stirling will take the captain's armband from Andrew Balbirnie for the upcoming T20I series against Bangladesh this week.

Stirling has captained Ireland six times in T20Is and has been vice-captain of Ireland since 2019. He proved an able and successful skipper in the West Indies last year, masterminding a series win after Balbirnie was ruled out with Covid.

Pembroke's Lorcan Tucker will act as vice-captain for the series.

“Andrew was due to take a break from the ODI series against Sri Lanka next month to concentrate on preparation for the upcoming Tests and the all-important World Cup Super League series in May." said Ireland Head Coach Heinrich Malan.

"With the Sri Lankan ODI series now being converted to a second Test Match, he will now be rested from this T20I series instead.

“We flagged before the tour that there may be an element of player rotation this year due to the anticipated volume of cricket we will be playing. I see it is an essential part of squad and player management that we give our leading players adequate down time for their physical and mental health.

"Such rotation also allows us to broaden the talent pool by enabling a wider group of players first team opportunities.”