With the start of the T20 World Cup two days away, where will Ireland find the inspirational individual performances required to beat Sri Lanka on Sunday or Australia next week to give themselves a chance to progress to the quarter finals?

Never mind the emphasis on game plans and tactics, and talk of ‘match-ups’ and players sticking to their ‘processes’, when a lower-ranked team upsets one of the big fish it’s usually the result of a stunning innings or spell of bowling.

The bats of Niall and Kevin O’Brien delivered famous World Cup victories for Ireland over Pakistan and England, while Carlos Brathwaite turned the 2016 T20 final on its head with four successive sixes in the final over for the West Indies.

So, which one of the Boys in Green is ready to make a name for himself in Colombo?

Does veteran skipper Paul Stirling, who holds the record for T20 international appearances, still have a swashbuckling knock in his locker?

Will left-arm spinner Matthew Humphreys continue his meteoric rise? Can Ross Adair repeat the heroics that brought him a T20 century against South Africa or will it be his brother Mark who sparks the campaign into life?

Two T20 World Cups ago, Josh Little would have been at the top of the list but the Pembroke speedster has lost his way since starring in Australia in 2022 and earning a mega-contract of more than USD500,000 to play in the Indian Premier League.

Little was a regular for Gujarat Titans in the early matches of their winning 2023 campaign before he was recalled by Cricket Ireland to play three ODIs against Bangladesh and missed the IPL final, and his career has spiralled downwards ever since.

A series of injuries haven’t helped the now 26-year-old and while a second year in the IPL — he played just one match for Gujarat — and a series of franchise gigs from Sri Lanka to South Africa have swollen his bank account, his form has suffered.

So much so that after leaking 65 runs in six overs, without taking a wicket, in two matches against Italy last week, he did not play in the two games against the United Arab Emirates.

Is the brilliance that had Phil Simmons nominating the teenager as “the one most likely to succeed” when he ended his eight years as Ireland coach in 2015 still lurking beneath the surface, or is the left-armer a spent force in his mid-20s?

More pertinently, can the Ireland management afford to risk him against Sri Lanka at the R Premadasa Stadium in Colombo?

The answer is surely “Yes” if only because it will take something special to beat the hosts on home soil, with ‘Group of Death’ matches against Australia, Oman and Zimbabwe to follow.