India captain Shreyas Iyer admitted that his bowlers could not capitalise on a strong start following Ireland's historic 34-run victory in the opening T20I on Friday in Belfast. This was Ireland's first-ever win over India in any format, taking a 1-0 lead in the two-match series. India, after deciding to bowl, made the perfect start by reducing Ireland to 30/3 inside the powerplay. However, Ireland made a swift recovery through captain Lorcan Tucker, who scored a powerful half-century. Gareth Delany also smacked 49 off 32 balls to help Ireland post a respectable total of 182/9.
"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 to 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 said at the post-match presentation.
Iyer further said that things cannot be taken for granted, highlighting that India's execution faltered during the middle overs.
"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," he said.
Chasing 183, India's batting lineup failed to build partnerships in the middle-order despite getting a fiery start from Abhishek Sharma, who blasted a half-century. Meanwhile, Shreyas Iyer backed the side to bounce back strongly in what is a do-or-die clash.
Yes, definitely. We’re going to forget what’s happened. Definitely a lot to learn from this game and see to it that we come out in the next game all guns blazing," Iyer said.