Ireland head coach Heinrich Malan expressed relief after their group was not swapped for the forthcoming ICC Men's T20 World Cup, stating that it would have impacted their preparation.

Bangladesh Cricket Board had offered ICC the prospect of swapping groups with Ireland in order to feature in the global event, after refusing to travel to India citing security reasons. However, that proposal was rejected by both, the ICC and Ireland, and with Bangladesh staying resolute in their stance, the ICC eventually replaced the sub-continent nation with Scotland.

Ireland are placed in Group C of the T20 World Cup alongside co-hosts Sri Lanka, Australia, Zimbabwe and Oman.

"We have been preparing according to the T20 World Cup schedule mate," Ireland head coach Malan told Cricbuzz on Tuesday. "Adaptability and creating a mindset that can handle different situations (in Sri Lanka) is a key aspect of our environment like being adaptable and ensuring we play what's in front of us (conditions, situation of the game, opposition) by reinforcing our game plans as it allows the lads to go out there and play with freedom is a key priority as we head out to Sri Lanka," he added.

Malan insisted that he does not feel losing to Italy in the third T20I against Italy in Dubai on January 26 is a wake-up call for them. That is despite it turning out to be a historical feat for the Italians considering it was their first win against any full-member nation of ICC.

"We had three competitive games against Italy here (in UAE) who showed that they are a competitive team and really enjoyed playing them as part of our preparation for the T20 World Cup," said Malan.

We had four training sessions out here before the first game against Italy and didn't hit the ground running as well as we would have liked (in the last game)," he said.

"But we are sure as we keep playing and preparing over the next week that includes playing two games against UAE. We'll keep improving and sharpen our skills and all round game," he said.

Malan said that they are banking on the senior cricketers to help them achieve their goal in the World Cup and added that they are looking to open their account against the hosts in Colombo on February 8.

"Our senior players Harry (Tector), Curtis (Campher), Josh (Little), Paul (Sterling) to name a few are really important spokes in our wheel and we are looking forward to see them through consistent performances to make our team wheel turn quicker," said Malan.

"We are very much looking forward to taking on the hosts in front of what's hopefully a sold out crowd at the Premadasa and getting our campaign off on a momentum building start," he concluded.