World Record Alert: Ireland's Paul Stirling leaves behind Rohit Sharma to become most capped player in T20Is

Ireland captain Paul Stirling scripted history in the first T20I against United Arab Emirates (UAE) on January 29. He became the most capped player in the T20I history and broke India's batting maestro Rohit Sharma in doing so.

Paul Stirling breaks Rohit Sharma's World Record

Rohit Sharma’s long-standing reign as the most capped player in T20I cricket finally come to an end. The legendary Indian opener, who debuted in 2007 and concluded his international T20 career by lifting the 2024 World Cup trophy, finished with a record 159 appearances over a 17-year span.

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But Ireland skipper and veteran opener Paul Stirling shattered Rohit's long-held World Record. In a poetic parallel to Rohit, Stirling is also in his 17th year of international T20 cricket and reached his 160th appearance during a match against the UAE at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium. With two more games scheduled in the current series followed by the T20 World Cup 2026, Stirling is set to extend his lead significantly in the coming weeks.

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However, given the sheer volume of T20Is played in the modern era, Stirling’s record may not stand as long as Rohit’s did. Pakistan's Babar Azam (137 matches) and India's Hardik Pandya (128 matches) are already closing in despite being in their early thirties. Even more striking is the trajectory of players like Suryakumar Yadav, who has amassed 103 caps in just a five-year window, averaging over 20 games annually.

Talking about the match, Ireland won the toss and elected to bat first. Stirling did manage to notch a big record but failed to deliver with the bat and could only score 8 runs before walking back to the pavilion. Ireland rode on Ross Adair's 29-ball 39 and Lorcan Tucker's 25-ball 38 to hand UAE a competitive total of 178/6 to chase.

Ireland's Playing XI:

Paul Stirling(c), Ross Adair, Harry Tector, Lorcan Tucker(w), Curtis Campher, Benjamin Calitz, Gareth Delany, George Dockrell, Mark Adair, Barry McCarthy, Matthew Humphreys

United Arab Emirates' Playing XI:

Muhammad Waseem(c), Aryansh Sharma(w), Sohaib Khan, Alishan Sharafu, Rahul Chopra, Harshit Kaushik, Basil Hameed, Muhammad Arfan, Haider Ali, Junaid Siddique, Muhammad Jawadullah