image source, Charles McQuillan/Getty Images
image caption, Vaibhav Suryavanshi was left out of the Indian team’s eleven for the two T20 matches against Ireland.
published Jun 29, 2026 08:54 IST
Reading time: 7 minutes.
Ireland wrapped up the series with a thrilling one-off win over India in Belfast on Sunday.
This is India’s first T20 series defeat since 2023.
After a historic 34-run win over India on Friday, Ireland surprised the T20 world champion Indian team for the second time. Jai Mundra and Matthew Hallard were instrumental in the victory, taking three wickets each.
India scored runs quickly in the final overs. With this, the match took an exciting turn. India needed eight runs from the last two balls to win.
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But at the end, Harshit Rana was caught by his brother Tim Tector off the bowling of Harry Tector. This wicket, taken on the penultimate ball, was the reason for Ireland’s historic victory.
Earlier on Friday, on a day when most people were expecting the international debut of 15-year-old Indian explosive batsman Vaibhav Suryavanshi, Ireland disappointed Indian cricket fans by defeating T20 world champions Indian team to take a 1-0 lead.
It was Ireland’s first win over India in any format in 12 matches, according to BBC Sport. In the T-20 format, he achieved this success in his ninth attempt.
Indian fans were disappointed that Vaibhav Suryavanshi also did not get a place in the eleven for the second T20. The team was expected to make a strong comeback.
India’s defeat caused disappointment among the fans. Questions have been raised over the non-inclusion of Vaibhav Suryavanshi. Questions were also raised on social media over Indian coach Gautam Gambhir’s decision.
Gautam Gambhir was trolled
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After the series loss to Ireland, there were a lot of reactions on social media towards Indian coach Gautam Gambhir.
Irish cricket attacked Gautam Gambhir at X.
In a post that is becoming increasingly viral on social media, Ireland Cricket said it has no plans to include Gautam Gambhir in its coaching team at present.
Irish cricket unearthed
“Now Vaibhav will have to be fed.”
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Former Indian cricketers have expressed disappointment over Vaibhav Suryavanshi not making his debut against Ireland.
Former Indian cricketer Sunil Gavaskar said in an interview to a TV channel: “Given that Vaibhav Suryavanshi was fit, he could have been played in both the matches. In one match, Vaibhav Suryavanshi could take the field with Abhishek Sharma. In the second match, Abhishek Sharma could be bowled out and Sanju Samson could be included in the squad. But this couldn’t happen.”
He said, “It is quite possible that Vaibhav would have scored only 10-15 runs. But this was the best opportunity to try out young players. Now they will have to play in the very first match against England. The simplest thing is to keep out of form batsmen and play Vaibhav Suryavanshi. Even if you play him after his debut, he should get a place in the team.”
Former Indian cricketer Mohammad Kaif has raised questions regarding the top eleven.
He said, “If the top eleven players were created, Vaibhav Suryavanshi’s name would definitely come up. The logic was that this is a World Cup winning team, so we will go with the same 11 players. Vaibhav will have to wait. But this logic should be adhered to constantly. Rohit Sharma was the winning captain but was later suspended and it was said that the young captain should be given a chance. captaincy.”
“When you look to the future, who is a bigger player of the future than 15-year-old Vaibhav Suryavanshi? He scores points. He won the Orange Cap in IPL. Coming close to Chris Gayle’s record, he missed the mark by just one six. In such a situation, his name should have been among the top eleven.”
Senior journalist Rajdeep Sardesai wrote:
At the same time, senior sports journalist Harsha Bhogle, praising the Irish team, wrote:
He further wrote: “Both of these matches were a revelation. Even the best players in the world are not able to quickly adapt to suddenly changed conditions on those pitches where 250 runs are easily scored and which are presented with great pride. Therefore, players should also play 160-170 run matches from time to time. Such matches become a real test for the batsmen.”
Former Indian cricketer Sanjay Manjrekar tweeted: “Well done Ireland! What a great day for Irish cricket!”
Former cricketers’ views on the team’s performance and captaincy
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On India’s defeat to Ireland, former Indian cricketer Ashwin said: “Indian players are used to playing on flat 24-carat IPL pitches. Whenever they have to face difficult conditions at the international level, they have to struggle a lot.”
Regarding Shreyas Iyer’s captaincy, Sunil Gavaskar said, “It would be too early to draw any conclusions after just two matches. Something can be said about this only after five matches with England.”
Former Indian cricketer Aakash Chopra called India’s defeat unexpected. He said: “The batsmen were the same. Only Suryakumar Yadav and Hardik Pandya were missing from the team. It’s surprising that the world champion team lost like that. This is the first time a team like Ireland has beaten India. This means that there are some things that need to be improved. Now we will have to field Vaibhav Suryavanshi.”
“You have Bumrah, we have Mundra”
image source, Getty Images
image caption, Jai Mundra put the Indian team under pressure by taking three wickets in the first overs of Sunday’s match.
India restricted the host team to 154 runs for 8 wickets. Harry Tector scored 53 runs in his 100th international match.
India’s Jai Mundra, who made his debut on Friday, is now the new hero of Irish cricket. He dealt a big blow to India by dismissing Sanju Samson LBW in the very first ball of the innings.
After this, Jai Mundra also took the wickets of Abhishek Sharma and captain Shreyas Iyer. This left India’s score at 19 runs for 3 wickets and the team came under pressure.
Mundra was born in India but moved to Dublin in 2021 to study. He is a resident of Tonk, Rajasthan and there was a joyful atmosphere in his house on Sunday.
Bowler Jai Mundra was instrumental in giving Ireland the lead in the match on Sunday. He took three wickets in three overs.
Following this, many said that Ireland had found an answer to India’s fast bowler Bumrah in Jai Mundra.
Sports journalist Alagappan Muttu wrote in Cricinfo: “Jay Mundhra dismissed Sanju Samson in the first ball of the Indian innings while chasing the target. It was an amazing blow. Following this, he also took the wicket of Abhishek Sharma in the same over. This was only the fourth time in the history of international T20 cricket that both openers came out for the golden ducks.”
“India did not have a big goal. Even though the scoreboard showed 1 run for 2 wickets, it looked like the team could handle the pressure, but Mundra continued to escalate his problems.”
Published by the BBC News Team.