Ireland captain William Porterfield was in upbeat mood as his Irish side arrived in Dharamsala ahead of  the start of the World Twenty20.

Speaking to Sky Sports from the team's headquarters in the shadows of The Himalayas, Porterfield exuded a quiet confidence.

"We've been pretty much away touring since the start of the year," said the 31 year-old. "We left in the second week of January to go to Australia. stopped off in Abu Dhabi on the way home so we've had pretty good preparation."

Ireland played three T20I's against Papua New Guinea, and two more against UAE, winning three and losing two, with Head Coach John Bracewell trying out various permutations.

"It's been great being outdoors, and we're ready to go for the two warm-up games this week, " continued Porterfield.

The Irish have been drawn in the same group as Oman, Bangladesh, and The Netherlands, and the Irish captain acknowledged it wouldn't be easy.

"There will be three tough games, especially with Bangladesh playing well, Holland too have shown their strength in this format over the last few years, knocking us out to go to the second phase last time out.

"I think it'll be the same in both groups, with not much between the teams, I fancy our chances though - it's a pretty simple equation, you have to win three games to go through to the Super 10's."

Ireland play Hong Kong in their first warm up game on Thursday March 3 (2pm UK/Ireland), before taking on Zimbabwe on Saturday (9.30am UK/Ireland).

They start the tournament proper against Oman on Wednesday March 9, before taking on group favourites Bangladesh on Friday March 11.

Their final group match is against The Netherlands on Sunday March 13 - Irish fans will need no reminders how that game transpired the last time the teams met at the same stage in Bangladesh in 2014.