CT Exclusive: 'Don't know where they are ranked' - Andrew Balbirnie after media terms victory over England as 'upset'

Wednesday, October 26 turned out to be another day when Ireland stunned the cricketing fraternity by the outcome of an ICC World Cup match. Andy Balbirnie’s men defeated Jos Buttler's mighty England side by a margin of five runs (DLS method) in a rain-affected match. Following the conclusion of the match, many of the sports media professionals started calling it an ‘upset.’ Above that, they started discussing it as England’s loss more than Ireland’s win.

The Irish skipper Andy Balbirnie was asked about the same by a CricTracker reporter during the post-match press conference following Ireland’s first win in the eighth edition of the ICC T20 World Cup. While answering the question, Andy shared a few sarcastic remarks and answered it in the way a winning captain is expected to answer.

“Don’t you find it a bit demeaning when media and journos happen to say it as an ‘upset’ whenever Ireland wins, a team did well on the ground, played well, then how would you take this term ‘upset’?” asked CricTracker reporter to Balbirnie.

Andy started his answer with a laugh and reckoned that it’s the way the sporting world works. He also spoke about the multiple opinions of people on multiple sports and the psychology of calling any team’s win an ‘upset.’

 That's just the way the world works - Andy Balbirnie

“Well, that’s not in my control what people say (Andy started with laughter). People have an opinion about cricket, I have an opinion about rugby and football. That's just the way the world works. If people want to say, it's an upset naturally they may see it like this. I don't know where England are ranked, I don't know where we’re around, but there are certainly a lot of teams between us, so it will be seen as an upset,” said Balbirnie to CricTracker.

Here's the video of Andy Balbirnie during Post-Match press conference:

In a chat with Ireland captain Andy Balbirnie @balbo90 after a well-deserved win against England in their second super-12 match of the ICC Men's T20 World Cup 2022.
Here's what Andy had to say about the notion of calling their win an 'upset' by the media and journos🙂#ICCT20WC pic.twitter.com/1iL03JvlMB

— Umesh Bharatpuria (@umeshbhartpuria) October 26, 2022

https://www.facebook.com/icc/videos/2217171881797527

“We were in the change room after that, thinking that we've not played our best cricket but still won. So that must mean that we're in a pretty good spot but certainly, there are a few things, I was criticizing Liverpool this weekend. People are going to criticize me for this obviously and that's just the way the world works," he concluded.