‘They outplayed us’: Shreyas Iyer joins Rishabh Pant in unwanted Indian captaincy club after Ireland shock
Shreyas Iyer (Image credit: BCCI) 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 win in the second T20I at Stormont on Sunday.The defeat not only gave Ireland their first ever T20I series win over India 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 champions, failed to chase down a modest target of 155 as they finished at 153 for 9 despite a late response from Harshit Rana (21 off 10). The defeat also ended India’s remarkable run of 16 consecutive T20I series victories that stretched until 2023.
“They had a great idea of the goal”
A disappointed Iyer admitted that Ireland deserved every bit of the series triumph and praised the hosts for reading the conditions much better than his side.“Honestly, it’s still definitely not a great series, but credit to them for the way they played,” Iyer said after the match.“The Irish team, I think they showed professionalism and they definitely had a huge idea of how the goal was going to play and the field work there was phenomenal. So a comprehensive win for them and congratulations.”The Indian skipper felt that his bowlers executed their plans well enough, but admitted that the batting unit failed to adapt to the demanding conditions.
“We were lagging behind in goal analysis”
Iyer pointed to India’s inability to correctly judge the surface and rotate the strike as the deciding factor behind the defeat.“Absolutely. I feel the bowlers, they were phenomenal today in terms of their execution. But we fell a little short in batting. We fell a little short in terms of analyzing how the wicket was going to play and also converting singles into doubles. I think they definitely outplayed us in that department.”India’s chase started almost immediately after Jai Moondra, the software engineer from Rajasthan’s Tonk, who represents Ireland, dismissed Sanja Samson and Abhishek Sharma for first-ball ducks before removing Iyer himself. At 35 for 4, India were left with too much work to do, despite Tilak Varma’s batting 55.Earlier, debutant Prince impressed with three wickets while Shivam Dube claimed two wickets as Ireland were restricted to 154 for 8, with Harry Tector scoring 53 in his 100th T20I appearance.
Rookie support despite a tough debut
Despite the disappointing result, Iyer backed the new faces in the team and expressed confidence that they would benefit from the experience.“Prince has great experience in the IPL and he brings 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 and Suryansh as well… it was his first game but yes, he will definitely learn from it.”Iyer signed off with a message to Irish fans, adding: “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 searching for answers ahead of their next task.