Ireland shuts down India in T20I ...... why Cricketers should not be role-models (says who !?)

 

Another day, another huge disappointment for ardent Indian Cricket lover !  you may identify the person in this pic ! but can you relate her to yesterday’s match.  The second photo may not be related to Indian performance – it is here more because I took it and believe it to be good !!

 

Losses are not new to Indian fan, especially those who watched Indian Team’s ordinary performances in 1980s .. .. but in recent times we are used to IPL extravaganza where 50 or even 60 in last 3 overs were regularly scored !! 

India suffered a historic 2-0 T20I series defeat against Ireland in Belfast, marking their first-ever series loss to the Irish team. Captain Shreyas Iyer's individual performance with the bat was highly disappointing; he managed only 3 runs off 6 balls in his captaincy debut before falling early in the chase.  In the second T20I,    India   got off to the worst start possible as they  lost Sanju Samson (0), Abhishek Sharma (0), Shreyas Iyer (10) and Ishan Kishan (12) inside the powerplay. Tilak Varma & Axar Patel scratched around as hope ran out dry !  yet  20 off the last over off a slow right arm off-spinner gave hopes but !!!    

 

The man on whom our hopes rested was Harshit Rana, who has been the butt of criticism from fans aftersome  rather disappointing display.  After a memorable Indian Premier League season in 2024 for the Kolkata Knight Riders, the pacer made his way up the pecking order and has represented the national team across all three formats. Coincidentally, Rana was a part of the KKR team that won the title with Gautam Gambhir as the mentor.  Harshit Rana was mainly criticized for two reasons: his performances in some matches, and claims of favoritism around his selection.   

Yesterday as India crept, 20 runs were required from the over bowled by H TEctor.  Arshdeep was the batter – 1^st ball was wide outside off; then Arsh scored a single; 18 off 5; a high full toss (wide), Harshit scored 2; off the free-hit, Harshit swung to leg, a thing edge ran through keeper  for a four; [9 off 2 scored – 11 required off 4!]. 19.3 Harshit ran a single; 4^th ball was a wide – then Arshdeep scored a single;  8 required off the last 2 !!  Another high full toss, Harshit hits it neat and straight into the hands at straight shorter boundary ! – taken by brother Tim Tector. Last ball was insignificant – 8 required, debutant Prince Yadav hammered it for a Six as India lost by 1 run !!  

Ireland were brave to pair Tector  up with a left-arm spinner in the death. Matt Humprheys knowing he was at the unfavorable end of the match-up did the only thing he could. He denied the short straight hit.   Ireland have swept the T20 World Champions 2-0. That meant India's unbeaten run which spanned 16 series and nearly three years has been irrevocably broken. The stars of this supreme result were Harry Tector, who scored a determined half-century to help put 154 on the board, and Jai Moondra, who picked up three wickets in the blink of an eye.  

Meantime, the much awaited Super Baby Boss Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, the 15-year-old prodigy, was kept cooling in the dressing cardon.  India's assistant coach Ryan ten Doeschate said – he  will have to "go through the same process as everyone else and bide his time and wait" for a debut  !!  Sooryavanshi is here after  spectacular IPL 2026 season, where he finished with the Player-of-the-Tournament honours for his 776 runs in 16 innings, scored at 237.30 and a glorious U19 WC. The national selectors said he had forced their hand with his outrageous talent and performances, but the team management has not been as quick to put him into the first XI during their shock series defeat to Ireland.  

Sanju Samson, one of the incumbent openers,   scored golden ducks in both these matches, but the team management is not in any hurry to show him or any of the two other top-three players the door.  "He's absolutely ready to play international cricket, there's no doubt about that," ten Doeschate said when asked how far Sooryavanshi was from making his international debut.   Yesterday there were two other debutants Prince Yadav and Suryansh Shedge !!! As of now, Sooryavanshi is only part of India's T20I side and not the ODIs. He has been named for the five-match series in England, which begins on Wednesday, and then the Asian Games – will have to wait to see whether Team management prefers to use his precocious talent.   

In India Cine actors and Crickters are sensational stars !!  but do not look up to Cricketers as moral guide says who !!  (first read the excerpts of the article)

There is a strange and growing delusion in the modern world that a talent for playing a sport qualifies an individual to be a moral guide. Modern cricketers are no longer merely athletes - they are expected to be virtuous, unblemished citizens and pillars of community standards.   

This expectation is as unrealistic as it is unfair. Cricketers should not be held to a higher standard than the general population. To demand otherwise is to misunderstand both the nature of elite sport and human nature. The most obvious question is simple: why have cricketers become role models? They did not ask for it. A young girl or boy picks up a cricket bat because they love the thrill of the contest, the satisfaction of a perfectly timed cover drive, or the exhilaration of rattling a batter's off stump. They do not sign up to become guardians of community morals.   

A cricketer's contract is an agreement to perform on the field - not a vow of abstinence, sobriety and perpetual politeness. When we force them onto a moral pedestal, we set them up for a fall, judging them by standards the general public could never hope to maintain.   

Cricketers are human beings with normal frailties. They suffer from the same insecurities, temptations, lapses in judgement, and emotional pressures as the butcher, the baker, and the corporate executive. The only difference is that the local accountant does not have their private life dissected by millions on social media.  

Cricketers should be admired primarily for their cricket. If a player performs on the field and respects the laws of the land, their private life should remain just that: private. Cricket boards, chief executives and integrity units are not shadow judiciaries. It is not their job to pass moral judgement on lifestyles, late nights, or personal indiscretions that violate no actual laws. When sporting bodies try to act as arbiters of private morality, they inevitably end up mired in hypocrisy. If a cricketer breaks the law, let the legal system handle them like any other citizen. If they are not punished, let them play. Selection, not curfews, should be the ultimate arbiter.  

It is time to dismantle the pedestal. Let us appreciate cricketers for the joy and drama they provide between the boundary ropes. Let us accept that they are beautifully, entirely human - complete with the same flaws and frailties as the rest of us.  

Cricket is not a church. It is a magnificent, unpredictable contest played by brilliant, imperfect people. Let's enjoy it as such.- highlighted portion that of Greg Chappel !!!  

H Tector bowled a messy final over and still ensured Ireland victory.  The one pictured at the start is Alice Tector who is now playing Women T20I WC for Ireland.  Born into a cricketing family - his brothers Jack and Tim also captained Ireland at U19 World Cups - Harry Tector has quietly amassed an impressive record in the senior side since cementing a spot in the post-Covid era.  After former Ireland captain Laura Delany was ruled out of   Women's T20 World Cup 2026 in the UK with an injury,  Eighteen-year-old allrounder Alice Tector  replaced her in the squad.  Tector made her ODI debut in 2024 and has played five matches for Ireland now is playing  T20I.  

 
Another disappointment for the die-hard Cricket fan
 
Regards – S Sampathkumar
29.6.2026