What just happened in Ireland? Fatigue, old frailties and a new captain contributed to India’s shambolic show

The world’s best T20I team got beaten by a bunch that plays a handful of matches every year. This just doesn’t add up.

This is the third unexpected whitewash for Team India under head coach Gautam Gambhir. In 2024, there was a 3-0 Test series drubbing at home at the hands of New Zealand. Last year, South Africa beat them 2-0 in the longest format, again at home.

How does one explain these defeats in Ireland? (BCCI on X)

They were still seasoned Test nations. Ireland, on the other hand, is a new Test nation and gets a handful of opportunities across formats. Losing one match to a team like that is fine in T20s. It's often been seen that lesser teams have beaten powerhouses in this format, but losing back-to-back is something not seen before. India is the world's best T20I side, having won the last two editions of the T20 World Cup. Ireland, prior to the series, were 12th on the ICC rankings. The teams are not even comparable, so how did it happen?

Is there a problem somewhere? Were the players in a good frame of mind for this tour? Were they tired? That's the most plausible reason. India won the T20 World Cup in early March. Days later, they had to begin preparations for the Indian Premier League, and the league went on for more than two months in extremely hot conditions for a large part. That got over, and within days, Afghanistan came for one Test and three ODIs. This series was totally unwarranted. Not just that, an A team was even sent to Sri Lanka for a 50-overs tri-series shortly after the IPL. Tilak Varma and Vaibhav Sooryavanshi were there, featuring in all five games for India A.

Baffling, to say the least!

Or is it the conditions? After the extreme heat of India and Sri Lanka, the team reached the much cooler climes of Belfast. The pitches also played a role. Ever since the tour of Australia in October-November last year, Indian players have played at home, including the IPL, where, more often than not, there are dead pitches. And when players are fatigued, adapting to new conditions can be even more difficult.

Or the players and new captain Shreyas Iyer haven't hit it off? The players are still warming up to him. Suryakumar Yadav was their captain for two years and a successful one at that. It can take some time to understand what the new captain wants and vice versa.

Or it's just bad cricket? The players got complacent. The batting was particularly bad in both matches. Sanju Samson, Ishan Kishan and Iyer were total failures. In fact, if you are a cricket fan in your late thirties and beyond, you would remember how India's batsmen struggled in these conditions back in the day. This series reminded one of those old frailties of Indian batsmen in bowler-friendly conditions.

Maybe all of the above contributed to India's shameful defeats. Thanks to this result, they are now all the more under pressure to beat England in the upcoming five T20Is. If they don't, Gambhir will particularly be in trouble. His Champions Trophy and T20 World Cup successes will cease to matter to fans. There have been too many unexpected whitewashes now. It can't go on like this.