NEW DELHI: Shreyas Iyer’s tenure as India’s T20I captain got off to the worst possible start after Ireland pulled off one of the biggest upsets in the format, sealing a historic 2-0 series win with a dramatic one-run victory in the second T20I at Stormont on Sunday.The defeat not only gave Ireland their first win over India in the T20I series but also left Iyer with an unwanted record. He has now become only the second Indian captain after Rishabh Pant to lose each of his first two T20Is in charge.India, the reigning T20 World Cup winners, fell short of a modest target of 155, finishing at 153 for 9 despite a late comeback from Harshit Rana (21 off 10). The defeat also ended India’s remarkable run of 16 consecutive T20I series victories that stretched to 2023.
‘They had a great idea about the wicket’
A disappointed Iyer admitted Ireland deserved every bit of their series triumph, praising the hosts for reading the conditions much better than his side.“It’s still definitely not a great series, to be honest, but credit to them for the way they played,” Iyer said after the match.“The Irish team, I think they showed professionalism and definitely had a great idea of ​​how the wicket was going to play and the work on the field was phenomenal. So a comprehensive win for them and congratulations.”The Indian captain felt that his bowlers executed their plans well enough, but accepted that the batting unit failed to adapt to the challenging conditions.
‘We failed in the door analysis’
Iyer pointed to India’s inability to properly assess the surface and rotate the shots as the deciding factor behind the defeat.“Absolutely. I feel the bowlers, they were phenomenal in terms of their execution today. But we failed a little in the shots. We failed a bit in terms of analyzing how the wicket would work and also converting singles into twos. I think they definitely outplayed us in that part.”India’s chase unraveled almost immediately after Jai Moondra, a Tonk software engineer from Rajasthan representing Ireland, dismissed Sanja Samson and Abhishek Sharma on the first ball before removing Iyer himself. At 35 for 4, India had too much to do despite Tilak Varma struggling with 55.Earlier, debutant Prince impressed with three wickets while Shivam Dube claimed two as Ireland were restricted to 154 for 8, with Harry Tector scoring 53 in his 100th T20I appearance.
Support for newcomers despite a difficult debut
Despite the disappointing result, Iyer backed the new faces in the team and expressed confidence that the experience will benefit them.“Prince has a lot of experience in the IPL and he carries that momentum here. He has his own set of ideas and plans when it comes to the ball. But the attitude and approach he had, like Suryansh… it was his first game but yes, he will definitely learn from this.”Signing off with a message for Irish fans, Iyer added: “Thank you very much. It’s an honor and a pleasure to be here.”While Ireland celebrated the biggest T20I series triumph in their history, Iyer’s captaincy reign began with two painful defeats, leaving India scrambling for answers ahead of their next assignment.
