Former Indian opener Kris Srikkanth slammed India after they suffered a 34-run loss against Ireland in the first T20I at Belfast on Friday. This was Ireland’s first win against India in any format of the game.

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 50 runs off 20 balls, none of the other Indian batters could show any application. 

Srikkanth said India were playing with their full strength barring the absence of Jasprit Bumrah and Hardik Pandya.

Kris Srikkanth said on YouTube Channel, “This is a humiliating defeat for India. How can you lose to Ireland with your near full team minus Bumrah and Pandya? It’s baffling that Ireland finished India with their spinners. India played with arrogance like they were sure of winning this match. Such was their attitude. It’s a wakeup call for India ahead of a big series against England.”

The 1983 World Cup winning player said India were over confident in their batting approach. Indian batters were not up to the mark and could not execute their plans against the Irish bowlers.

“It was overconfident batting from India. Everyone just came, swung the bat and got out. India has always had a problem in 180+ run-chases. It was upsetting to see India bat the way they did. While Abhishek Sharma asusual batted brilliantly, the rest just gave catching practice,” said Srikkanth (via the aforementioned source).

“Tilak Varma played a needless reverse sweep. It is clear that if you bowl a string of dot balls to the Indian batters, they start hitting out and throwing their wickets away. Once the dots pile up, the Indian batters are in trouble and try to hit their way out. Except Abhishek, who was in freewheeling mode, the rest were suffocated.”

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