June 28 won’t be remembered as an ordinary day. As a cricket fan, you had no breathing space. There was so much going on; still, the biggest news was yet to come. After the West Indies and Zimbabwe bossed their Tests against Sri Lanka and Bangladesh, both Indian men’s and women’s teams lost. Ireland stunned Shreyas Iyer’s side as Vaibhav Sooryavanshi watched from the sidelines. Meanwhile, Harmanpreet Kaur’s India are out of the T20 World Cup. But then, the shocker came when Ben Stokes announced his retirement.
Ben Stokes’ shocking retirement
Ben Stokes shocked everyone by retiring from all international cricket during Day 3 of the Trent Bridge Test vs New Zealand. He told teammates mid-match he was done, asking them to give everything for the last two days. Stokes had been under investigation for breaking curfew but escaped with a one-match ban. Many think lost trust with the ECB’s Rob Key and McCullum pushed him. He retires at 35, just after joining Kallis with 7,000 runs and 250 Test wickets. Read more here.
Ireland stun India in Belfast
Ireland stunned a strong Indian side to end their 16-series unbeaten T20I series run. Despite picking nine T20 World Cup 2026 winners plus Iyer and Sooryavanshi, India were whitewashed by Ireland’s injury-hit B-side missing Adair, Campher, Stirling and Little. Ireland used home conditions better, winning in all departments. India’s batting flopped — Samson fell to Moondra twice, Abhishek and Kishan played rash shots, Iyer looked pressured. Only Prince Yadav, Harshit Rana and Shivam Dube impressed with the ball. Read more here.
India out of Women’s T20 World Cup
India crashed out of the Women’s T20 World Cup 2026 after losing to Australia, letting South Africa through from Group A. After reducing Australia to 68/3, Harmanpreet’s poor bowling changes let Perry and Gardner settle. Radha went for 17 in one over while Sree Charani and Deepti were held back. Kranti Gaud bowled just one over. Tactics were awful again as Yastika Bhatia played but didn’t bat, Richa faced one ball. India got outplayed and frankly didn’t deserve to progress. Read more here.
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Jai Moondra blows India
Jai Moondra, born in Tonk, Rajasthan, stunned India with a dream spell in the 2nd T20I. The left-arm seamer, in just his second game for Ireland, removed Samson and Abhishek for golden ducks in his first over, then bowled Iyer. India were 1/2 — only the second time both openers bagged golden ducks in T20Is. Moondra, who moved to Ireland for studies and worked at Intel, rattled India’s top order with aplomb. Read more here.
No IND vs SL T20Is in Sri Lanka
India won’t play the extra T20Is Sri Lanka asked for in August 2026. SLC wanted three games added to the Test tour to raise funds for Cyclone Ditwah relief, but BCCI said no. India’s calendar is packed with Tests in Sri Lanka from Aug 15, then Bangladesh, Afghanistan, New Zealand, and Australia. The BCCI told SLC it’s open to helping later, but fitting in T20Is now isn’t possible due to workload. Read more here.
Prince Yadav impresses
Prince Yadav got his T20I cap against Ireland, replacing Prasidh Krishna, and grabbed it with both hands. The LSG quick took 3/21 on debut, troubling batters with bounce and pace. He got Tucker with a nasty short ball, then dismissed Tector and Liam in the last over. After a breakout IPL 2026 season with 16 wickets, including bowling Kohli for a duck, Prince has been fast-tracked. India clearly rate him — he’s already played ODIs vs Afghanistan too. Read more here.
