Tilak Varma enters the unwanted record books after the slowest…

India’s Tilak Varma (PTI) Tilak Varma’s battling half-century was one of the few positives for India in their dramatic one-run defeat of Ireland in the second T20I on Sunday, but the left-hander also found himself on the unwanted list after registering one of the slowest fifties by an Indian in T20 Internationals.Tilak, who was in deep trouble with India after the top-order collapse, reached his half-century in 45 deliveries while chasing 155 at Stormont. The knock is now tied as the sixth-slowest T20I fifty by an Indian and stands as the slowest half-century by an Indian batsman against Ireland in the format.Slowest T20I 50s for India (by balls)56 KL Rahul Vs. SA Trivandrum 202254 G Gambhir vs Aus Melbourne 201249 SK Yadav vs USA New York 202448 V Kohli vs SA Bridgetown 202445 V Kohli vs Pak Dubai 202145 T Varma vs Ireland Belfast 2026 *However, the circumstances were far from ordinary. India were rocked early on when software engineer-turned-cricketer Jai Moondra, who hails from Tonk in Rajasthan and still holds an Indian passport, dismissed Sanja Samson and Abhishek Sharma for first-ball ducks before removing captain Shreyas Iyer to leave the visitors in peace.India slumped to 35 for 4 in the Powerplay after Ishan Kishan ran out, leaving Tilak tasked with rebuilding the innings on a surface offering movement, uneven bounce and seams during the chase.Unlike several of his teammates who struggled to adjust to the conditions, Tilak adopted a patient approach, absorbing the pressure before putting together a valuable partnership with Axar Patel. He eventually brought up his fifty by launching Matthew Hollard over deep mid-wicket for the first six of India’s innings.However, the milestone proved to be short-lived. Attempting another attacking stroke from the very next ball, Tilak mistimed a raised run to the next cover and departed for 55 off 46 deliveries, ending India’s best hope of completing the chase.Harshit Rana’s late cameo 21 from just 10 balls briefly revived Indian hopes but Ireland held their nerve to restrict India to 153 for 9 to seal a famous one-run win and complete a historic 2-0 series over the reigning T20 World Cup champions.The defeat also ended India’s run of 16 consecutive T20I series victories from 2023, while Ireland celebrated their first ever bilateral T20I series triumph over India.