Indian T20I skipper Shreyas Iyer opened up on the team’s first ever loss to Ireland and said that they are going to look forward. Iyer made his captaincy debut and returned to the shortest format after a two-year-long break. However, his first game as a T20I skipper didn’t unfold as expected and the side suffered a humiliating 34-run loss. Not only this, but even on an individual level, Iyer failed to make the most of the opportunity and could manage to chip in three runs off seven deliveries.
He opened up on the loss and said that the team won’t look backwards, but is rather focused on the second game. Iyer also added that they have learnt a lot from the game and are all ready to go all out against their rivals in the second and decisive game of the series. “We are going to forget what’s happened. Definitely a lot to learn from this game and see it to that we come out in the next game all guns blazing.”
Notably, after a decent performance by the ball, the Indian side wrapped the Irish innings at 182 for nine. In return, the batters couldn’t manage to keep up with the rival bowlers and lost six wickets for just 100 runs with Sanju Samson at 5, Tilak Varma at 19, Shreyas Iyer at 3, Abhishek Sharma at 50, Ishan Kishan at 1, and Washington Sundar at 9, all back into the hut. Infact, Sharma’s fifty was the only bright spot for the team whereas Shivam Dube managed 25 runs before departing.
You can’t take anything for granted: Shreyas Iyer’s message to Indian team ahead of second T20I
Speaking during the post-match presentation in the first game, Iyer shared a message for the rest of the team members and said that nothing could be taken ahead. He added that it is not possible to turn up and win games, rather what’s necessary is to stay in the present moment and check if there’s any opportunity to squeeze the opponent.
“I think you can’t take anything for granted. You can’t just turn up and win matches. You have to work hard and see to it that you’re in that moment. Like I mentioned earlier, you’ve got to stay in the present and see to it that if you’ve got that opportunity to squeeze the opponent, we’ve got to do that. And yeah, never take any moment or situation lightly,” Iyer stated.
Notably, this is the first time since Jan 2024 that India would not be able to win a T20I series. The last time any of the series was drawn was back in December 2023 against South Africa.
