Tilak Varma‘s fighting 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 an unwanted list after registering one of the slowest fifties by an Indian in T20 Internationals.Walking in with India in deep trouble after a top-order collapse, Tilak reached his half-century in 45 deliveries during the chase of 155 at Stormont. The knock is now tied as the sixth-slowest T20I fifty by an Indian and stands as the slowest-ever half-century by an Indian batter against Ireland in the format.Slowest T20I 50s for India (by balls)56 KL Rahul vs SA Trivandrum 202254 G Gambhir vs Aus Melbourne 201249 SK Yadav vs USA New York 202448 V Kohli vs SA Bridgetown 202445 V Kohli vs Pak Dubai 202145 T Varma vs Ire Belfast 2026 *The circumstances, however, were far from ordinary. India were rocked in the opening over when software engineer-turned-cricketer Jai Moondra, who hails from Tonk in Rajasthan and still holds an Indian passport, dismissed Sanju Samson and Abhishek Sharma for first-ball ducks before removing captain Shreyas Iyer to leave the visitors reeling.India slipped to 35 for 4 inside the Powerplay after Ishan Kishan was run out, leaving Tilak with the task of rebuilding the innings on a surface offering movement, uneven bounce and seam throughout the chase.Unlike several of his teammates who struggled to adjust to the conditions, Tilak adopted a patient approach, absorbing pressure before stitching together a valuable partnership with Axar Patel. He eventually brought up his fifty by launching Matthew Hollard over deep mid-wicket for India’s first six of the innings.The milestone, however, proved short-lived. Attempting another attacking stroke off the very next ball, Tilak mistimed a lofted drive to extra cover and departed for 55 off 46 deliveries, ending India’s best hope of completing the chase.Harshit Rana’s late cameo of 21 from just 10 balls briefly revived India’s hopes, but Ireland held their nerve to restrict India to 153 for 9, sealing a famous one-run victory and completing a historic 2-0 series sweep over the reigning 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 triumph over India.
