IND vs IRE, 2nd T20I: Team India’s long-standing unbeaten T20I record remains severely under threat as they gear up to face Ireland in the second and final T20I on June 28, Sunday at the Civil Service Cricket Club, Stormont, Belfast. With Ireland stunning the reigning world T20 champions to take a 1-0 series lead, Team India are severely under pressure to win the second to avoid a humiliating series defeat. Nevertheless, it is certainly worth exploring when did the Men in Blue last lose a T20I series.
IND vs IRE, 2nd T20I: When did Ireland last lose a T20I series?
Team India last lost a T20I series in August 2023 to the West Indies when Hardik Pandya was skippering the side. The Caribbeans had won the first two matches but the Men in Blue fought back to win the next couple of them to force a series-decider. Nevertheless, the West Indies chased down 166 comfortably with eight wickets to spare, thereby winning the series 3-2.
Since then, the sub-continent nation went on to win every T20I series, including a couple of T20 World Cups. They hadn’t suffered a T20I series defeat under Rohit Sharma and Suryakumar Yadav, with the duo also ushering India to T20 World Cup glory in 2024 and 2026, respectively. However, Shreyas Iyer’s captaincy stint could kickstart to a nightmarish start, given there is also threat of showers.
IND vs IRE, 2nd T20I: Will Vaibhav Sooryavanshi make his debut in Belfast?
Fans and a few former cricketers were surprised after Vaibhav Sooryavanshi wasn’t handed a debut in the series-opener as the tourists stuck to the opening pair of Abhishek Sharma and Sanju Samson. While it might have been an anomaly, the series remains on the line and the visitors could be forced into a knee-jerk change. With Sooryavanshi in fearsome form, the Men in Blue will be raring to use his form.
With Washington Sundar struggling across facets in the first T20I against Ireland, he is likely to be dropped for Sooryavanshi. Instead, Prasidh Krishna, who leaked 57 in his four wicketless overs, is likely to make way for Prince Yadav. Prince enjoyed an impressive debut ODI series against Afghanistan at home and performed well for the Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) too in IPL 2026.
India predicted playing XI: Abhishek Sharma, Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, Sanju Samson(w), Ishan Kishan, Shreyas Iyer(c), Tilak Varma, Shivam Dube, Axar Patel, Harshit Rana, Arshdeep Singh, Prasidh Krishna/Prince Yadav.
