India T20I captain Shreyas Iyer sent a stern message to the team following the shocking defeat against Ireland in the first T20I of the two-match series. The Men in Blue failed to chase a big target of 183. India never looked in contention despite Ahbishek Sharma’s quick half-century and fell short by 34 runs in the end. Iyer, who captained India for the first time, asked his team to work hard and stay in the present ahead of the second game.
“Initially, the bowlers were bowling venom. But in between, we lost the execution and let them hit us straight down the ground, where the boundaries are smaller. I thought 140 would have been a good score to chase, given the start we had with the ball. But yeah, great start as a captain. Definitely, we are going to forget what happened and there’s a lot to learn from this game. Going to come out all guns blazing in the next. game,” Iyer said.
“The fast bowlers were getting help at the start, and Shivam bowls crucial overs so I always trust him. Harshit Rana bowled phenomenally well, coming back from injury. (His message to the team) You can’t take anything for granted. You have to turn up and work hard and stay in the present and if you have the opportunity to squeeze the opponent, you have to do that,” Iyer added.
India were on top in the early overs as Ireland were reeling at 115/5 after 14.3 overs. Gareth Delany, who was dropped for 8 runs by Abhishek Sharma, took Ireland past the 150-run mark and smashed 49 off 32 balls. His knock proved to be a game-changer and Ireland registered their first-ever win over India.
Second T20I details
The second and last T20I of the series will be played at the same venue (Civil Service Cricket Club in Belfast) on Sunday (June 28). The match will start at 6:00 PM IST. A win there will see India level the series while a defeat will see them lose the series.
India are unlikely to make any changes in their top order for the must-win game, which means no debut for Vaibhav Sooryavanshi again. He remained on the bench despite a dream run in IPL 2026, where he won the Orange Cap for piling up 776 runs.
