India’s T20I series defeat to Ireland has raised serious questions just months after their T20 World Cup triumph. The result comes as an early setback for a team that opted for significant changes despite ending their long wait for a global title earlier this year. Suryakumar Yadav was stripped of the captaincy and also lost his place in the squad, while Shreyas Iyer returned to the T20I setup after a lengthy absence and was immediately handed the responsibility of leading the side. His first assignment, however, could hardly have gone worse. India brushed off the opening defeat as a one-off, but Ireland produced another disciplined performance in the second T20I to clinch the series 2-0 and underline that the first win was no fluke. India’s batting, expected to be one of their biggest strengths, failed to deliver in both matches. Chasing a modest target of 155 in the second game, the visitors struggled to build partnerships and eventually fell just one run short. The defeat handed India a rare bilateral T20I series loss and gave the team management plenty to think about as the new leadership group begins its journey.
Former India captain Kris Srikkanth criticised India’s approach with the bat, saying the visitors lost the second T20I during the middle overs. He questioned the lack of intent from the middle order, particularly Tilak Varma (55 off 46 balls), Shivam Dube (20 off 16 balls) and Axar Patel (14 off 18 balls), arguing that their inability to rotate gears at the right time proved costly in the narrow one-run defeat.
“You can’t play the way India did in the middle phase, especially Tilak Varma, Dube and Axar. All their strike rates were poor. You have to stabilise a bit and then start attacking in the middle phase. Otherwise, you’ll be finished if you fail in the middle phase. India lost the game in the middle phase. Tilak Varma was just playing for himself by sneaking in ones and twos. Axar Patel was the same,” Srikkanth said on his YouTube channel.
“Tilak Varma tried to become the hero”
Srikkanth also questioned Tilak’s approach during the chase, suggesting the left-hander was too focused on taking the game deep instead of finishing it earlier. Srikkanth felt India should have wrapped up the chase with an over to spare rather than allowing the match to go down to the final delivery.
“Tilak Varma tried to take it till the end and become the hero. He thought of winning it in the end and celebrate by lifting his jersey. These targets have to be chased down with an over to spare and not go till the end,” he added.
