Tilak Pharma India (PTI)
Tilak Varma’s battling half-century was one of the few positives for India in their dramatic one-run defeat to Ireland in the second T20I on Sunday, but the left-hander also found himself on the unwanted list after scoring one of the slowest fifties by an Indian in T20 Internationals.Walking India into deep trouble after the collapse of the top order, Tilak reached a half-century in 45 deliveries during a chase of 155 at Stormont. The knock is now tied as the sixth slowest T20I fifty by an Indian and is the slowest half-century ever by an Indian batsman against Ireland in the format.Slowest T20I 50s for India (by balls)56 KL Rahul vs SA Trivandrum 202254 G Gambhir vs Australia Melbourne 201249 SK Yadav vs USA New York 202448 V Kohli vs SA Bridgetown 202445 in Kohli vs Pak Dubai 202145 T Pharma vs Erie Belfast 2026*But conditions were far from ordinary. India was initially shaken when software engineer-turned-cricketer Jay Mundra, who hails from Tonk in Rajasthan and still holds an Indian passport, fired Sanju Samson and
Abhishek Sharma
To duck the first ball before the captain is dismissed
Shreyas Iyer
To leave visitors reeling.India fell to 35 for 4 inside the Powerplay after that
Ishan Kishan
He ran out, leaving Tilak with the task of rebuilding the innings on a surface that displayed movement, uneven bounce and contact throughout the chase.Unlike many of his teammates who struggled to adapt to the conditions, Tilak adopted a patient approach, absorbing the pressure before forming a valuable partnership with Axar Patel. He eventually brought up his fifty by firing Matthew Hollard over deep mid-wicket in the first six of India’s innings.
However, this achievement proved short-lived. Attempting another attacking stroke off the next ball, Tilak mistimed a soaring shot to extra cover and departed for 55 off 46 deliveries, ending India’s best hope of completing the chase.Harshit Rana’s late appearance of 21 off just 10 balls briefly revived India’s hopes, but Ireland held their nerve to restrict India to 153 for 9, clinching a famous one-run win and completing a historic 2-0 series sweep over the T20 World Cup champions.The defeat also ended India’s run of 16 consecutive T20I series victories dating back to 2023, while Ireland celebrated their first-ever bilateral T20I series victory over India.