Shreyas Iyer rues India’s loss to Ireland – ‘Not embarrassing, but depressing’

India’s T20I captain Shreyas Iyer has admitted that they “fell short in analysing and planning” for the Ireland series, which they lost 2-0, thus ending their unbeaten streak of 16 series and tournaments. During this streak they became the first team to successfully defend the T20 World Cup title, losing just one match across the two tournaments. The upset against Ireland has brought Shreyas under fire after he returned to the side straight as a captain after having been out for 63 matches.

“It wasn’t embarrassing, but it was depressing for us because we definitely didn’t expect Ireland to play that well,” Shreyas said on the eve of the five-match T20I series against England, starting in Durham. “They outplayed us in every department. They had brilliant ideas about the dimensions of the ground, and we fell short in terms of analysing and planning. The ground and the dimensions and how the wicket would play… So kudos to them, credit to them, but we learned a lot from that series.”

Ireland used the dimensions of the ground in Belfast well, giving India nothing to exploit the short straight boundary. Ireland outscored India in the V by 23 and 33 runs. In the second match it took India 18 overs to hit their first six. Apart from not getting time to acclimatise to irregular conditions, there was a bit of an unknown about the conditions in Belfast.

“A couple of us, we have played in England before,” Shreyas said. “We know how the wickets are usually we see it on TV as well. Belfast, we played after so many years. It’s not a reason, but I’m just saying that turning up over there and then not getting acclimatised to the wicket, to the conditions, we fell a bit short in terms of reading the outfield and getting accustomed to the conditions over there.

“I feel it’s completely different here because the Belfast ground definitely wasn’t a stadium, and the outfield was a bit slow and it wasn’t even and the dimensions were also a bit squarish. So cutting the angles, cutting the doubles, especially when you’re fielding in the outfield, the angles… Also as a captain, like for me, setting the field felt a bit outlandish because we are not used to it. We were playing in the IPL. All the grounds were, you know, perfectly even from every direction, so that was a bit challenging.

“And over here also, I mean the dimensions are pretty much similar, but the ground is flat and you feel the vibe, you feel the stadium vibe, the crowd would be intense as well. We’ve played in such conditions, such situations before.”

As a batter, Shreyas feels he is in good touch. “Not at all,” Shreyas said when asked if he felt extra pressure making the comeback as a captain. “The way I’m timing the ball in the nets, even in the match in the previous game, I thought I was timing brilliantly. The odd ball bounced and took the inside edge. That doesn’t justify how my batting is or how much pressure I’m taking, and I definitely believe in my instincts. I know how well I play under pressure, so I just want to keep that faith in me and go forward in the upcoming matches.”

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