Former Indian Test opener Aakash Chopra criticised India’s batting they suffered a 34-run loss against Ireland at Belfast on Friday. India was flabbergasted by the Irish team as the visitors were found wanting in the series opener.

The home team posted a par score of 182 runs on the board but the visitors were bundled out for 148. Barring Abhishek Sharma, who scored 49 runs off 20 balls, none of the other Indian batters could show any application. The middle order failed to get going and their shot selection wasn’t the best.

The tourists was not up to the mark in the run chase and had to pay the price as Ireland registered their first win against India in any format of the game. Furthermore, India was sloppy in the field as they could not take their catches.

“The catching was so poor. This is the team that has come after lifting the World Cup just now, and if we are going to catch like this after that, it does not look good. Many times, a question comes to mind as to whether we are taking them very lightly, that it would happen, and we would manage it,” Chopra said on his YouTube Channel.

“That attitude was seen when you came to bat. Abhishek Sharma was batting as though there was no problem, but the wickets kept falling one after the other from the other end. It seemed like every batter was saying that the next one would do it,” he added.

The former Delhi cricketer added that India received their first loss against Ireland as they were not at their best.

“This happens many times when you play a team ranked lower than you because we had played Ireland eight times before this and had never lost even one match, and we were handed a defeat for the first time here,” he observed.

The second T20I between Ireland and India will be played at Belfast on Sunday.