‘We failed … ‘: Abhishek Sharma explains India’s shock defeat to Ireland

NEW DELHI: India opener Abhishek Sharma admitted that his side failed to adjust to the conditions after Ireland stunned the reigning T20 World Cup champions by 34 runs in the first T20I in Belfast on Friday.

Despite smashing a blistering half-century, Abhishek could not prevent India from suffering their first-ever defeat against Ireland in any format. The loss also marked a disappointing start to Shreyas Iyer’s captaincy as Ireland took a 1-0 lead in the two-match series.

‘We have to adapt really quick’

Abhishek said adapting to the conditions quickly is vital, especially when teams have very little time between matches.

“Its just how quickly we adapt the conditions, that’s really matters as a team, because when you are playing back to back games, as a group you have to step forward and get used to the conditions, whenever you get practice sessions or probably get used to, I feel as a dominating team, you have to adapt really quick and that’s what we were trying today, but unfortunately it didn’t happen,” Sharma told the reporters after the match.

Ireland create history

Ireland posted a challenging 182/9 after captain Lorcan Tucker led the way with a well-made half-century. Gareth Delany added 49, while George Dockrell provided late fireworks to lift the hosts to a strong total.

Harshit Rana was India’s best bowler with figures of 3/24, while Arshdeep Singh and Axar Patel picked up two wickets each.