Talent is irrelevant in becoming famous

[Nonverbis]

This is from Listening for IELTS by Fiona Ash and Jo Tomlinson.

Could you tell me why "in" is used here? I would say "to". Anyway, dictionaries only provide us with "irrelevant to" cases.

 

[probus]

Although I can't recall ever seeing or hearing "in" used in such a context, I wouldn't go so far as to call it wrong. Nevertheless, in my region "to" is a far more likely preposition.

 

[5jj]

It seems natural enough to me.

 

[jutfrank]

Only in is correct. If you used to, you'd get a different meaning. The preposition to is not dependent on the word irrelevant in this sentence.

You might understand things better if you change the sentence around like this:

In becoming famous, talent is irrelevant.