Belfast [Ireland], June 26 (ANI): Following his side’s humiliating 34-run loss to Ireland in the first T20I, their first-ever against the side in any format, India T20I skipper Shreyas Iyer admitted that his team “lost the execution” while bowling and gave a message to the world champion side that they cannot take anything for granted.
The ‘Captain Iyer’ era was off to a poor start as knocks from Lorcan Tucker and Gareth Delany helped Ireland make a comeback after a top-order collapse, before their bowlers bowled them to a 34-run win, causing India to collapse from 90/4 to 148 all out.
Speaking during the post-match presentation, Iyer said that the Indian bowlers initially found lateral movement, but later lost their execution by letting players hit straight down the ground at a small venue.
“I think initially, the bowlers were bowling well. They got lateral movement, and they got a couple of wickets as well. So we got a tremendous start, but in between, we lost execution. We made them hit straight down the ground, where we know that the dimensions are pretty small. But then, yeah, the bowlers, when we had to shut down the overs, they were brilliant as well. So I thought 140 would have been an amazing score considering the start that we got to chase.
Iyer admitted that playing in T20Is after a long break played its part, and the team is going to forget what happened in this match.
“Definitely a lot to learn from this game and see to it that we come out in the next game all guns blazing,” he added.
On the bowling performances of pacer Harshit Rana and all-rounder Shivam Dube, Iyer said, “They were getting help up front at the start, and Shivam has bowled crucial overs in the past. So I always back him, and I have played with him in the domestic circuit as well. I know his strengths and weaknesses. And Harshit Rana, he bowled phenomenally. Coming out of an injury to perform at this level and showcase this sort of talent, it is simply brilliant.”
On a concluding note, he gave a message to his team, saying, “I think you cannot take anything for granted. You cannot just turn up and win matches. You have to work hard and see to it that you are in that moment. Like I mentioned earlier, you have got to stay in the present and see to it that if you have got that opportunity to squeeze the opponent, we’ve got to do that. And yeah, never take any moment or situation lightly.”
Ireland was put to bat first by India and was guided to 182/9 by Tucker (50 in 36 balls, with five fours and two sixes) and Gareth Delany (49 in 32 balls, with three fours and three sixes).
India started off well, reaching the 50-run mark in just the fourth over, with Abhishek Sharma (50 in 20 balls, with seven fours and two sixes) impressing. However, impressive bowling from Matthew Hollard (3/28), Matthew Humphreys (3/38) and Jai Moondra (2/26) totally unravelled India’s batting as it collapsed from 45/1 to 148 all out, with the final five wickets going down for 48 runs. (ANI)
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