Ireland made history on Friday, defeating India by 34 runs in the first T20I in Belfast. This is the first time Ireland has beaten India in any format of cricket. The lesser-known Irish batters and bowlers humbled the World Champions. Former Indian opener Sadagoppan Ramesh did not mince his words, saying the Indian team was under the impression that this tour was a picnic, and he also praised the hosts.
“Ireland deserve praise for using the bigger boundaries and testing the Indian batters out with the short delivery. It was clear that India played the match casually. They thought the Ireland series was a picnic tour, which they’ll win easily and were serious only about the England series. But Ireland taught India a lesson by saying this is no picnic spot,” Ramesh said on his YouTube channel.
“The Ireland series was not even originally scheduled. It was like a pickle to the main course, which was England. But India embarassingly couldn’t handle the spice of the pickle, which is Ireland. Irrespective of what excuses can be cooked up for this, it’s a shocking and terrible defeat for Team India. Overconfidence is never healthy and it’s because of that, India’s story was over last night. India must be confident but not overconfident,” he added.