India Suffer Historic Series Defeat to Ireland
Indian captain Shreyas Iyer admitted it was a disappointing series for India, praising Ireland's professionalism, superior understanding of the conditions, and excellent fielding, saying they fully deserved the series win. Ireland secured a historic one-run victory over the T20I World Cup champions in Belfast on Sunday, clinching the two-match series 2-0.
Iyer Credits Ireland's Tactical Superiority
"It's still definitely not a great series, honestly speaking, but kudos to them for the way they played. Ireland team, I think they showed professionalism and definitely had a tremendous idea about how the wicket was going to play and the field work there was phenomenal. So a comprehensive win to them and congratulations," Iyer said after the match.
Iyer felt India's bowlers executed their plans well but said the batters failed to read the pitch and capitalise by converting singles into twos, allowing Ireland to outplay them in key moments. "Absolutely. I feel the bowlers, they were phenomenal in terms of their execution today. But we fell a bit short in our batting. We were, we fell a bit short in terms of analysing how the wicket is going to play and also converting singles into twos. I think they definitely outplayed us in that department," he added.
Ireland's Historic Achievement
The series win marks Ireland's first-ever win over India in any format. They have not only beaten the reigning T20 World Champions but also snapped India's 16-series winning streak in T20Is. Among full member teams, the previous longest streak was 11 by Pakistan between 2016 and 2018.
Chasing a 155-run target in the must-win game, India were limited to 153 for 9. Earlier, Prince Yadav (3 for 22) picked up three wickets as India restricted Ireland to 154 for 8. Ireland's victory was powered by brilliant three-wicket hauls by Jai Moondra and Matthew Hollard.
