Paul Stirling equals Rohit Sharma and Shakib Al Hasan's legendary record in T20 World Cup 2026
Ireland opened their T20 World Cup 2026 campaign against Sri Lanka with a heartbreaking loss as they went down to the 2014 champions by 20 runs in Colombo. Meanwhile, Paul Stirling has equalled a legendary record in the World Cups.
Ireland captain Paul Stirling has equalled a legendary record of former skippers Rohit Sharma and Shakib Al Hasan during his team's T20 World Cup 2026 opener against Sri Lanka on Sunday, February 8.
Stirling, the Irish veteran, leads an ambitious Irish squad in the tournament as they aim to produce some surprises, although their opener against Sri Lanka began on a heartbreaking 20-run loss at the R Premadasa Stadium in Colombo.
While his team lost the contest, Stirling has equalled a major T20 World Cup record with yet another appearance in the tournament. The 35-year-old Stirling has levelled India icon Rohit and Bangladesh veteran Shakib in the list for appearing in the most editions of the T20 World Cup. This is his and Ireland's ninth appearance in the global 20-over tournament, which is now equal to the two veterans.
Players to be part of most T20 World Cup editions: (Playing at least one match in an edition):
9 - Shakib Al Hasan
9 - Rohit Sharma
9 - Paul Stirling*
8 - Mahmudullah
8 - David Warner
8 - Mohammad Nabi
Ireland go down to Sri Lanka
Ireland gave the 2014 champions a good fight, but they could not beat them after suffering a massive collapse in the end. From 105/2 after 14.1 overs and needing 59 runs from the remaining overs, they got bowled out for 143 as they lost their last eight wickets for just 38 runs.
The Irish side also dropped several chances, as it later went on to haunt them. They dropped as many as four official chances, with some other misjudged opportunities also going down. Captain Stirling conceded that the drop chances and the 20 runs proved costly for them. "A little bit sloppy in the field, which is disappointing, but plenty of areas that we need to come back with in a couple of days' time against Australia. Yeah, look, I think experience told today. Sri Lankan teams at the end, in both innings, I think that was the difference really. Those 20 runs certainly they defended well at the backend," he said after the match.