India’s bid to level the T20I series against Ireland got off to a disastrous start in Belfast on Sunday as both openers, Sanju Samson and Abhishek Sharma, were dismissed for golden ducks in the first over, creating an unwanted record in the process.Jai Moondra struck twice in the opener, removing Samson and Abhishek off the first ball they faced. It was only the second instance in T20I history involving full member nations where both opening batsmen were dismissed for ducks on the first ball in the same innings. The only previous instance occurred in 2018 when Bangladesh’s Tamim Iqbal and Soumya Sarkar suffered the same fate against the West Indies in Basseterre. The collapse did not end there. Moondra returned in the third over to dismiss the captain Shreyas Iyerbefore Ishan Kishan was dismissed in the fifth over as India fell to four wickets inside the powerplay while chasing 155.Most Ducks in T20Is in a Calendar Year (FM Teams)7 Saim Ayub (2025)6 Richard Ngarava (2024)6 Abhishek Sharma (2026) *The innings also contributed to Abhishek Sharma’s unwanted record. The left-handed opener registered his sixth duck in T20Is in calendar year 2026, leaving him just one behind Pakistan’s Saim Ayub, who holds the record with seven ducks in a calendar year among full members. Zimbabwe’s Richard Ngarava also had six ducks in 2024.Both India’s opening batsmen were dismissed for ducks in the T20I inningsRohit & Rahane vs Pak Mirpur 2016Gill & Jaiswal vs SA Gqeberh 2023Samson & Abhishek vs Ireland Belfast 2026It was also only the third time that both India’s opening batsmen were dismissed for ducks in the same T20I innings. The previous instances were against Pakistan in Mirpur in 2016, when he Rohit Sharma and Ajinkya Rahane went wicketless, and against South Africa in Gqeberha 2023, when Shubman Gill and Yashasvi Jaiswal were dismissed for ducks.Earlier in the evening, India did well to restrict Ireland to 154 for 8 after electing to bowl first. The quick trio of Harshit Rana, Arshdeep Singh and debutant Prince Yadav shared the opening wickets to reduce Ireland to 48 for 3 after eight overs.Playing his 100th T20I, Harry Tector anchored the innings with a composed 53 off 47 balls and stitched a 65-run partnership with Ben Calitz, who made 37 off 23 deliveries. Shivam Dube then pulled things together for India by claiming two wickets in consecutive deliveries during the 15th over.India gave T20I debuts to batting all-rounder Suryansh Shedge and fast bowler Prince Yadav, while 15-year-old batting sensation Vaibhav Sooryavanshi once again lost his place in the playing XI.The visitors went into the match trailing 0-1 in the series after suffering a historic 34-run defeat in the first match, Ireland’s first win over India in international cricket.
