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Ireland captain Andrew Balbirnie has called on Ross Adair to play his natural game when the all-rounder makes his international debut against Zimbabwe in the first of three T20 internationals on Thursday.

Balbirnie confirmed that Adair will open the batting with him in Harare.

The 28-year-old previously played rugby for Ulster, scoring a try in his only senior appearance in 2015.

"He's such a gifted, powerful batter who can do damage," Balbirnie said.

"He also has to understand that it won't happen in the first or second over and sometimes you have to bed yourself in a bit and then take advantage.

"I remember when I made my debut, even my first ten games with Ireland, I maybe tried to play differently to how I naturally played and that's our message to Ross."

Ross will join his brother Mark in the Irish line-up, which will see them become the first set of brothers to play for Ireland in an international since Niall and Kevin O'Brien in the Test match at Malahide in 2018.

Ireland will play three T20s in Harare before a three-game ODI series from 18-23 January.

It is the start of a busy year that will see Ireland play a Test match at Lord's against England in June and push for World Cup qualification in both white-ball formats - T20 and the 50-over game.

"Ross has done some really impressive stuff at inter-provincial level and deserves his chance," Balbirnie added.

"He hits the ball a long way and we're excited to see how he does. His is an incredible sporting story so we are delighted to have him and Mark play together."

Franchise cricket 'a positive'

With the likes of Paul Stirling and Lorcan Tucker unavailable due to franchise cricket commitments the door is open for Adair and fellow debutant Stephen Doheny to impress the selectors.

On completion of the tour Balbirnie will fly to Dhaka to play for the Khulna Titans in the Bangladesh Premier League and he sees Irish players getting experience across the world as being a good thing.

"It's positive for those players getting exposure in these leagues and to see what are stock is like around the world but it is also positive that we can see what our strength in depth is like," he added.

"We have Worlds T20 qualifiers coming up this year and the way the game is going with the franchise leagues going on it does give that opportunity to guys to step up at international level and show what they can do.

"With the schedule that we have, naturally we have to build a squad because injuries happen and we need players who can step in."