Before the ICC Men's T20 World Cup 2026, Ireland are playing a two-match T20I series against the hosts UAE, where the Irish legend Paul Stirling created a new record by surpassing former Indian captain Rohit Sharma's world record in T20I cricket. 

Most T20I matches: Paul Striling surpassed Rohit Sharma's record

On Thursday night (January 29), when Ireland faced the hosts UAE at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium, it was the 160th T20I match for Paul Stirling, who also led the team. With this game, Stirling set a new record for playing the most T20I matches, by surpassing the previous record of 159 T20I matches by the T20 World Cup-winning Indian captain Rohit Sharma. 

As the former Indian captain Rohit Sharma has already retired from T20I cricket, as well as Test cricket, he can't better his T20I appearances record, unless he makes a surprise T20I comeback.

Another Ireland cricketer George Dockrell is chasing the top two T20I appearances positions, as he played his 153rd T20I during the UAE vs Ireland 1st T20I on Thursday night. Afghanistan cricketer Mohammad Nabi is in the fourth position with 148 T20Is.

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Most T20I appearances (updated as of January 29, 2026)

• Paul Stirling (Ireland): 160 matches*
• Rohit Sharma (India): 159 matches
• George Dockrell (Ireland): 153 matches*
• Mohammad Nabi (Afghanistan): 148 matches*
• Jos Buttler (England): 144 matches*

*active players

Ireland won 1st T20I vs UAE by 57 runs

In the first UAE vs Ireland T20I, Ireland won by 57 runs to take a 1-0 lead in the series. After Ireland chose to bat first, they scored 178/6 in 20 overs, where the opener Ross Adair (39) and Lorcan Tucker (38) scored crucial 30s. Also, Curtis Campher (25), Ben Calitz (26*), and George Dockrell (22*) managed crucial 20s to set a challenging target for the hosts.

In reply, although the UAE openers Aryansh Sharma and captain Muhammad Waseem provided a good start, once that 54-run opening partnership was broken in the next over after the powerplay, the visiting bowlers comfortably took the game away. Only both the UAE openers managed to score 20-run marks, as Waseem scored 40 runs and Aryansh scored 23 runs. 

Among the Irish bowlers, Matthew Humphreys (3/26) and Gareth Delany (3/26) got three wickets each, while Barry McCarthy (2/26) had two wickets.