Team India endured a shocking defeat to Ireland in the opening game of the two-match T20I series on Friday, June 27 at the Stormont in Belfast. The Shreyas Iyer-led side failed to chase the 183-run target in the second innings as the Men in Blue lost the game by 34 runs.
Abhishek Sharma reflects on India's loss to Ireland
Despite India's underwhelming performance with the bat, star opener Abhishek Sharma played a fine knock of 50 runs off just 20 balls against the Irish side. It turned out to be his eleventh half-century in the T20I format. Even after Abhishek's heroics, Indian team could not chase the target before being bundled out on just 148 runs.
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After the game, the star left-handed batter noted the key reason behind the shocking loss, saying that the reigning T20 champions could not find a moment to adapt as per the situation and conditions, which turned out to be the key-factor behind the defeat.
"I feel as a dominating team, you have to adapt really quick and that’s what we were trying today, but unfortunately it didn’t happen," said Abhishek Sharma at the post-match press conference.
Next challenge for India
After enduring a tough start to the series, Sheryas Iyer-led side will aim to bounce back strongly with a win to draw the series 1-1. The Men in Blue will lock against the Irish team in the second T20I on Sunday, June 28 at the Stormont Cricket Ground in Belfast. The game will start at 6:00 PM IST. Currently, Ireland leads the two-game series by 1-0.
It will be interesting to see if Shreyas Iyer can lead from the front to draw his maiden series as a captain. If the team ends up in the losing side, it would be a big setback ahead of the big five-game T20I series against Ireland which will be a testing assignment for Iyer as a skipper.