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 – 1st 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; 4th 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
