India lost their first-ever T20I against Ireland on June 26, and Shreyas Iyer’s India captaincy debut got off to one of the worst starts possible. This game was played at the Civil Service Cricket Club, Stormont, Belfast, and India bowled first after Iyer won the toss.
Lorcan Tucker, also making his Ireland captaincy debut, top-scored with 50, while Gareth Delaney scored 49 runs as Ireland posted 182/9 in 20 overs. Harshit Rana took 3/24, while Arshdeep Singh and Axar Patel took two wickets each.
India was supposed to chase the total without any concern, but kept losing wickets at an alarming pace. Abhishek Sharma made 49 in 20 balls, while Shivam Dube made 25 and Tilak Varma made 19 runs. However, the likes of Shreyas Iyer (3), Ishan Kishan (1), Sanju Samson (5), and Washington Sundar (9) failed to come good when things got tough. India only managed 148 runs and lost the game by 34 runs.
Cricketer-turned-commentator Aakash Chopra has slammed Prasidh Krishna for being incredibly costly with the ball following India's defeat in the opening T20I against Ireland. He pointed out that in the few T20Is he has participated in, the Karnataka seamer has been sent to the cleaners.
Krishna went for 0/57 in four overs in this match and had given 68 runs for no wicket in his previous T20I against Australia in 2023. Hence, he has given 125 runs in 8 overs he has bowled in his last two T20Is.
"Harshit Rana's comeback was excellent. He was the pick of the bowlers. Arshdeep Singh bowled extremely well. Axar Patel bowled the 20th over. He bowled pretty well. Shivam Dube bowled three overs, and all three were good. He picked up a wicket with his first ball. So, he was absolutely fine. It's just about those two overs.
Prasidh Krishna has played six T20Is for India. He has bowled 24 overs in that. Of course, he bowls four overs in every match, which is excellent. He has taken eight wickets. So, he is a bit of a wicket-taker, but look at the economy. He concedes 11.5 runs per over," Chopra said on his YouTube channel.
"He has conceded 277 runs in 24 overs. An innings comprises 20 overs, and if we talk about him conceding 277 runs in his 24 overs, that's way too much. So that has become a cause for concern for sure. They had the option to go towards other bowlers. You said you wanted to play Prasidh Krishna, which is okay, but a slight lack of game awareness was visible," he observed.
Prasidh Krishna had also gone for 27 runs as Gareth Delaney hit 3 sixes and 2 fours in the 17th over he bowled. After him, Washington Sundar had conceded 19 runs in the 16th over as Ireland batters made merry in the death overs.
Prasidh Krishna has done well in the last two Indian Premier League (IPL) seasons, according to Aakash Chopra, since the Gujarat Titans make good use of him.
"Then you feel at times whether he has done well in the IPL because of the role he has been given, considering he won the Purple Cap last year. The performance wasn't bad this year either. He is on and off very expensive in the IPL as well, but somehow, the Gujarat Titans manage him really well," he said.
"That clarity of thought is not seen when he plays for India. The role demarcation is not that clearly visible. Let's not be too critical, as he hasn't played a lot of cricket, but if you have given more than 275 runs at an economy of 11.5 while taking eight wickets in six matches, this is not good enough," Chopra observed.
India and Ireland will play the second T20I in Belfast on June 28.
