'Can't take anything for granted': Iyer after Ireland stun India

Captain Shreyas Iyer has urged his side to "not take anything for granted" after India slumped to a shock defeat against Ireland in the first T20I in Belfast, marking Ireland's first-ever men's international victory over India.

On a bouncy surface with large square boundaries, India's batters struggled to clear the ropes as Ireland's bowlers pulled their lengths back. It forced the visitors to target the bigger square boundaries, where catches in the deep became a recurring feature.

"You can't take anything for granted," Iyer said in the post-match presentation ceremony. "You can't just turn up and win matches. You have to work hard and see to it that you're in that moment. Like I mentioned earlier, you've got to stay in the present and see to it that if you've got that opportunity to squeeze the opponent, we've got to do that. And yeah, never take any moment or situation lightly."

The newly-appointed T20I captain, leading India for the first time, enjoyed a good start to his stint as Ireland slipped to 51 for 4, but a 64-run partnership between Gareth Delany and Lorcan Tucker swung the momentum back in the hosts' favour. India's cause wasn't helped by three dropped catches, with both Delany and Tucker earning reprieves. The bowlers also missed their lengths in the middle overs, allowing Ireland's batters to target the shorter straight boundaries.

"I think initially, the bowlers were bowling well," Iyer said. "They got lateral movement, and they got a couple of wickets as well. So we got a tremendous start, but in between, we lost execution. We made them hit straight down the ground, where we know that the dimensions are pretty small. But then, yeah, the bowlers, when we had to shut down the overs, they were brilliant as well. So I thought 140 would have been an amazing score considering the start that we got."

Ireland captain Lorcan Tucker acknowledged India's efforts with the ball early on, calling it "Test match like". Arshdeep Singh and Harshit Rana bowled three-over spells in the Powerplay, keeping Ireland to 36/3 before floodgates opened with Prasidh Krishna's introduction into the attack. The fast bowler, returning to India's T20I fold, conceded 0 for 57 in his four-over spell.

"I think India bowled really well at the start," Tucker said. "I think they bowled really good lengths. They didn't really waver from them. They stuck at them, found it challenging to hit good shots. It nearly felt like a Test match at one stage. But I think we tried to stay in the game, build a partnership, and then took our opportunities when they came a bit later."

Iyer said his team would prefer to "forget what's happened" and move on with the lessons that were handed out to them in this loss.

"Yes, definitely," Iyer said when asked if players were rusty. "We're going to forget what's happened. Definitely a lot to learn from this game and see to it that we come out in the next game all guns blazing."

Despite the result, Iyer was keen to take the positives from India's first outing of the series. "It's a great experience over here. We got to play in these conditions, got a fair idea about the wicket, and yeah, great start as a captain."