Even by David versus Goliath standards, this was a mismatch. Six regulars from the underdog side were unavailable. Josh Little (stress fracture), Mark Adair (rectus muscle tear), Paul Stirling (torn calf muscle), Curtis Campher (hand fracture), Barry McCarthy (complete ACL tear) and Jordan Neill (shoulder and foot injuries) were missing in action. There is a new captain and two debutants - Matthew Hollard and Jai Moondra.

Yet, the second-string Ireland side pulled off a victory of seismic proportions. The fact that India fielded a full-strength team only added another layer to the remarkable underdog story. "It's a huge result for Irish cricket," Kyle McCallan, an Irish Cricket legend, who was part of the side's similarly famous victory over Pakistan in the 2007 World Cup, tells Cricketlineguruji in an exclusive conversation.

"There have been some special days (for Irish cricket), you know - beating England in the 50-over World Cup in Bangalore, and then beating them again in the T20 World Cup in Australia. But I think, for a team like India, fresh from the IPL, with a side full of superstars, to come to Belfast and for Ireland to get a result, it's one of the greatest wins in Irish cricket history."

McCallan (50) is a commentator at Sky and follows Ireland cricket closely. He thinks there is a reason why the 34-run win in Belfast is extra special. "The win is particularly pleasing, for the fact that the new players came in and probably didn't have any battle scars from before, nor anything mentally that held them back. They just went out with freedom and played beautifully. You know, Jai Moondra, Matt Hollard and the others bowled exceptionally well. Tim Tector is doing very well at the top of the order.

"So, for me, that's every bit as impressive from an Irish perspective as the result itself. I think the performances of the new players will give everybody in Irish cricket a massive lift. But the bottom line is, for Ireland to register their first-ever win over the mighty Indians in any format of the game is just a phenomenal achievement and a real boost for everyone involved in Irish cricket.

"What this does is give the new players huge encouragement. But it will also serve to motivate those guys who perhaps were comfortable in the team. They'll realise now that they've got to keep pushing themselves and keep moving their game forward because there are youngsters breathing down their necks, so to speak. One of the things we're trying to do in Ireland is grow the talent pool."

McCallan says that Irish cricket has a habit of punching above its weight - be it now or back in 2007 when they beat Pakistan. "We looked at players in the opposition like Shahid Afridi, Mohammad Yousuf and the others. We were in awe of them. But I suppose what 2007 taught us was that we were better than we probably believed we were. I think Irish cricket has always punched above its weight. We are minnows. We don't have huge numbers. But what we do have is a lot of self-belief and tremendous team spirit. What 2007 did was give us the belief that we could compete at that level. And I think every Irish team since 2007 has grown and developed from that."

The Irish legend, an all-rounder in playing days who has played 39 ODIs and nine T20Is, reflects on the changes in the country's cricket in recent times. "Well, the most significant difference is that we were amateurs, whereas the current playing group are full-time professional athletes and full-time professional cricketers. I think the pitches and facilities, while there is still room for development here, have improved. More importantly, today's players have the opportunity to train 12 months a year. A lot of them are very T20-conscious and play in franchise leagues around the world.

"So the opportunities available to our players are far greater than they were in my time, and that's certainly the biggest difference. The boys are full-time professional athletes. They're playing cricket 12 months a year, seven days a week, and you can only improve by doing that. Whereas I was a schoolteacher. I had to do my day job and fit my cricket around it. So that's the major difference."

But there have been changes to Cricket Ireland with longtime CEO Warren Deutrom leaving the board. The transition has not been easy and there is a funds crunch too. "Yeah, Warren was the chief executive for a long time and achieved wonderful things. Sarah Keane has now taken on the role of chief executive. We are still heavily reliant on funding from the ICC, and we need as much support as we can get from both the Irish government and the Northern Ireland government.

"But our biggest challenge is maintaining and developing our talent pool and ensuring we have the facilities to help our players improve. Another major challenge is getting enough opportunities to play against teams like India. To have the chance to host India in a bilateral series here is just amazing. The more often we can play against the opposition of that standard, the better we will become."

Adding to the challenge is the decision by the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) to no longer allow Irish players to qualify as domestic players in county cricket. They are now treated as overseas players, a category where competition is intense and opportunities are limited. "Well, certainly, before we became a Full Member nation, a lot of our best players played county cricket. That exposed them to regular cricket, a higher standard of competition and better pitches.

"Unfortunately, our players are now classified as overseas players in English cricket, so they no longer have those opportunities. As a result, we are heavily reliant on our own inter-provincial competition and our domestic setup. The problem is that the depth of talent isn't quite there yet. So we've got to create more opportunities for our players to compete against the best. We've got to develop more best-versus-best competitions within our own system.

"Our women's teams suffer from the same issue. Scotland's women's players can play county cricket and compete in the English Championship, whereas our girls can't. So it is a challenge for us, but it's something we're going to have to address by strengthening our own competitive structures in Ireland and making sure we can develop our players ourselves."

Besides, the ECB has been opposing a continental championship in Europe like the Asia Cup. "One of the things I would love to see is a European equivalent of the Asia Cup. We watch the Asia Cup and see Bangladesh, Pakistan, India and the others playing, and I think there's scope for something similar in Europe. You look at the Netherlands, Scotland, England and Ireland. I think that would be hugely exciting and a real opportunity.

"I think there's an opportunity for England, Scotland, the Netherlands and Ireland to play in a four-nation European competition. That would be incredible. I suppose England are a little like India. They're a huge draw and have enormous commercial value whenever they tour. It's also difficult to manage player workload and schedules. But I understand that. England are similar to India in another way too. An India A team is probably the equivalent of most Test sides. India could field several teams capable of beating many other Test nations. I think England are probably in a position to do something similar.

Finally, coming back to Ireland-India series, McCallan, who will be on air for the second and final match on Sunday, fears India will come back with a bang, with Vaibhav Sooryavanshi potentially blasting the Irish attack to smithereens. "I'm commentating tomorrow. I wasn't able to commentate on Friday because I was at work, but I'll be on air tomorrow. My only fear is that we might see Sooryavanshi come out firing. I think India will be like a wounded tiger or a wounded lion after Friday's defeat. Ireland will have to be at their very best tomorrow. Otherwise, we might just see India make a real point."