Ireland defeated India by one run in the second and final T20I to register a 2-0 clean sweep over the T20 World Cup champions in Belfast on Sunday (June 28).

This result shattered India’s remarkable 16-series unbeaten streak in T20Is. The unexpected disaster also spoiled Shreyas Iyer's debut series as India's 20-overs captain.

Speaking during the post-match press conference, India’s assistant coach Ryan ten Doeschate admitted that the Indian team is in disbelief after getting hammered by Ireland.

He commended Lorcan Tucker's side for a "fantastic" performance, noting they played smart cricket. The Dutchman acknowledged that Indian batters struggled to transition from flat IPL pitches to a spicy Belfast track with larger boundaries, and stressed the need to adapt quicker with England T20I series starting this week.

"There's a little bit of disbelief," ten Doeschate told reporters. "It's also very hard to be critical of guys who have just won a World Cup. We've been outdone or outsmarted by a team who just did the basics very well."

"So firstly, credit to Ireland, and secondly the learnings for us in terms of being able to adapt to different conditions. That's probably the biggest takeaway from this. The guys really know how to play in India. This is a good lesson in the fact that we're going to have to adapt and play slightly differently when we go to different countries and play against different teams."

The assistant coach acknowledge that they were done in by conditions that were completely in contrast to what they have been used to during their dominant run.

"That was essentially our undoing," he said. "It's things we spoke about before, but we just didn't address it well enough out in the middle. I think the big thing was the wind.

"Again, absolutely no excuses, but when presented with a different challenge we have to find solutions of playing in a different manner, in a better manner. I thought Ireland did that very well with the ball. They never let us hit straight. In two matches, I think we hit two straight sixes. They were both off the spinner. They just did the basics really well and we couldn't combat that.

"We're probably too used to a sort of a tempo and style where you can hit sixes more freely. I think this will be the case when you go to England as well, you know, maybe slightly quicker wickets, maybe slightly less wind, but we're going to have to adapt and be a lot smarter about how we'd like to play if we're going to get wins there."

Ireland outscored India significantly in the "V" down the ground and bowled disciplined lengths without pitching the ball up.

"That [not getting hit down the ground] was the central focus of our discussion, particularly for the second game," ten Doeschate said. "I thought we adjusted really well as a bowling unit today. I thought we bowled a lot smarter and that probably reflected in the score that they got on the board today, but again with the ball they were fantastic.

"I don't think there was one ball pitched up from the seamers and their spinners, and again it was reflected in the economy rates. We need to learn from that. We need to adapt quicker. It is something we spoke about but, again, without being overcritical, we want the boys to make those adjustments a lot quicker."

Despite the setback, Ryan ten Doeschate emphasized that the team must maintain its aggressive identity to dominate the powerplay while simply making smarter tactical choices.

"It's been a strong part of the team's identity over the last two years, or even going back three or four years, that we really try to dominate the powerplay," he said. "It's easy to say sit around, but if you never swing, you're never going to hit a six. We want to get that balance right. I'd certainly be cautious about saying let's be very careful upfront. That's not the way we want to play it. We just want to take better options and give ourselves a better chance of dominating the powerplay."

As a former standout player for the Netherlands, ten Doeschate deeply understands the structural and developmental struggles tier-2 and Associate nations face. Rather than blaming India's loss on a fluke or "bad days," he credited Ireland’s tactical intelligence and ability to maximize their resources in local conditions.

"Without being disrespectful, no," ten Doeschate replied when asked if he expected such a challenge from Ireland. "You mark guys player to player and what the Indian players have achieved in their careers. There's a couple of guys sitting there who have won two World Cups on the bounce. There's guys who have played hundreds of IPL games, and I think that sort of just underlines what an achievement it is [for Ireland].

"I wouldn't even say we had two bad days. I thought the Irish were fantastic over both days. Not a razzmatazz 240, 250 type of cricket. They [were] smart enough to navigate their way to two good scores. I mean we won both tosses as well.

"I'm pretty chuffed for them. It's obviously super disappointing to lose, but to see them make progress like that and just win by making the most of what they have is very impressive, and we take our hats off to them."

(With Cricinfo Inputs)