Tilak VarmaIndia’s struggling half-century was one of the few positives for India in their dramatic one-run defeat in Ireland in the second T20I on Sunday, but the left-hander still finds himself on the unwanted list after registering one of the slowest fifty by an Indian in T20 Internationals.Walking 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 half-century by an Indian batsman against Ireland in the format.Slowest T20I 50 for India (per 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 Ireland Belfast 2026 *The circumstances, however, were far from ordinary. India was shocked at the opening when Jai Moondra, a software engineer turned cricketer, who hails from Tonk in Rajasthan and still has an Indian passport, fired. Saint Samson and Abhishek Sharma for first-ball ducks before removing the captain Shreyas Iyer to leave visitors reeling.India slumped to 35 for 4 in the next Powerplay Ishan Kishan he was run out, leaving Tilak with the task of rebuilding the innings on a surface that offered movement, uneven bounce and seam throughout the chase.Unlike many of his peers who struggled to adjust to the conditions, Tilak adopted a patient approach, absorbing the pressure before stitching a valuable partnership with Axar Patel. He eventually brought up his fifty by bowling Matthew Hollard over deep mid-wicket for the first six of India’s innings.The stage, however, was short-lived. Attempting another attacking stroke off the 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 16-match T20I series win streak dating back to 2023, while Ireland celebrated their first bilateral T20I series triumph over India.
