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India's new T20I captain Shreyas Iyer could not have asked for a worse start to his captaincy journey. After taking over the captaincy from Suryakumar Yadav, Iyer's first assignment ended in complete disappointment as Ireland stunned India 2-0 in the two-match T20I series.
The whitewash has shocked the entire cricket world. Before this tour, India had never lost a T20I match to Ireland. But that record was broken, and Ireland created history by winning both matches. After the shock, Manoj Tiwary questions Gautam Gambhir after Ireland series defeat.
Sunil Gavaskar calls Ireland defeat one of Indian Cricket's lowest moments
Reacting to the embarrassing T20I series defeat, former Indian captain Sunil Gavaskar said that this was one of the most disappointing days in Indian cricket. He said that losing a match is part of the game, but losing a series to Ireland hurt much more because India were expected to dominate.
Gavaskar felt that the biggest reason behind India's defeat was not Ireland playing extraordinary cricket but the touring side making things easy for the hosts. He said many batters looked overconfident and played careless shots instead of understanding what the match demanded.
Sunil Gavaskar wrote in his column for Sportstar: “Sunday, June 28, will go down as one of the worst days in Indian cricket. Losing a game of cricket is one thing, but losing a series, albeit a two-match series, also depends on whom you lose to.
"There are many low points in Indian cricket, and I have been a part of some, but to lose to Ireland has to be one of the lowest in the history of Indian cricket. If Ireland had played exceptional cricket, then it would have lessened the blow. It was simply overconfidence and a sense of casualness that let India down, and that's why the sadness.”
Sunil Gavaskar compares India's show with the 1983 World Cup Final
The legendary batter also compared India's approach to the famous 1983 ODI World Cup final. In that historic match, Indian bowlers bowled smart, tight lines and lengths, and then Kapil Dev took an outstanding and game-turning catch to get rid of Viv Richards.
The powerful West Indies team lost after becoming too confident while chasing a small target against India. Gavaskar believes that the Indian batters made a similar mistake against Ireland.
He added, “When you look at the West Indies batters' dismissals, you will see the same overconfidence and casualness that we saw from the Indian batters in both games against Ireland.” Amid this, Jay Shah's ICC unveils road to LA 2028 Olympics, India first team to qualify.
Indian batters failed to read the conditions: Gavaskar
The former Indian captain also pointed out that the pitches in Ireland had extra bounce and movement for the fast bowlers. Sunil Gavaskar felt the Indian batters did not adjust to those conditions and just tried to play big shots too early and lost their wickets.
Sunil Gavaskar signed off by saying, “Playing according to the situation is such an important aspect of any sport, especially cricket, but almost all the Indian batters tried to live up to their image and, on pitches that had a little extra carry and bounce, found that they were dismissed very easily by some good catching allied to smart bowling.”
