After not losing a T20I series or tournament for two and a half years, India have now been clean-swept in both Ireland and England. With two global tournaments in 2028, the next two years are going to be crucial.
Free fall or reverting to mean?
There are two ways to look at India’s 0-6 thrashing across the two series in Ireland and England. The first (and more popular, and perhaps obvious) way is to consider it the beginning of the decline of the two-time running world champions in the format.
Go back in time, and a different story emerges. The Ireland tour ended India’s unbeaten run since the West Indies tour of August 2023. During this stunning run, India had won 15 series or tournaments and drawn one – all in a format designed for upsets.
Since their streak began, India have won 60 men’s T20Is and lost 18 – including the six recent defeats. Their win-loss ratio of 3.333 is significantly better than Australia’s 2.25 and England’s 2.058, the only other Full Members to have hit the 1.3-mark. India are still a formidable T20I side that were completely outplayed in two consecutive bilateral series. Had the recent defeats come at the start or even the middle of their unbeaten phase, they would not have stood out as much.
But that is about the past and the present. How are India shaping up for the future, for the two global events of 2028 – the T20 World Cup in Australia and New Zealand and the Los Angeles Olympics?
Different hurdles ahead
India have won three of the last four limited-overs global tournaments and have lost only one game in each format. Yet, it is also true that they played two of these four at home. For a third, they set up a base in similar conditions in Dubai while the other teams had to travel. The fourth had started in erratic conditions in the USA. These will be not similar to what they will face in the 2028 T20 World Cup.
India cannot afford to sit on the laurels of these records. Over the next year and a half (well, almost) their big guns will be busy preparing for the ODI World Cup. This will give them the ideal opportunity to test their backup players.
Between the start of 2025 and the Ireland tour, Harshit Rana was the only Indian T20I debutant. In the ongoing new cycle, India have already given out caps to Prince Yadav, Suryansh Shedge, and Vaibhav Sooryavanshi. The count will undoubtedly increase over the next few months. There are holes to plug and backups to prepare.
India’s top four are sorted, but what about five and six?
Sanju Samson, Abhishek Sharma, and Ishan Kishan are all exceptional in their own ways, and had excellent outings in the 2026 IPL. With 2028 in mind, keeping them in the mix was as important as grooming the genius of Sooryavanshi. That is not where it ends either. With Shubman Gill and Yashasvi Jaiswal in the wings, power hitters like Priyansh Arya are not even in immediate contention.
In 2028, all India need is to pick three out of six or seven elite top-three batters.
Shreyas Iyer might not have got off to a great start as captain, but at No.4, he has stepped up even amidst collapses. Rajat Patidar’s omission has raised quite a few eyebrows, but it is feasible that he is in the mix – if not at four, then at five.
No.5 remains an issue for India. Their solid top four forced India to push Tilak Varma down from three to five. Tilak’s struggles against spin are not exactly a secret, and his numbers have taken a hit since he was forced to bat more in the middle overs. As India have shown, being the vice-captain (or even a world champion captain!) does not guarantee automatic selection.
Shivam Dube’s excellent run at the World Cup should secure his position for some time. It is not the same for Tilak. India may leave out him for Patidar, or promote Dube and get Rinku Singh in.
In search of gold
Hardik Pandya is the only cricketer in India who can bat in the top six in a T20I, bowl four overs of reasonable pace (not medium), and bowl both inside the powerplay and at the death. His fielding is a bonus.
The problem is, there is no direct backup for Pandya. Elite pace-bowling all-rounders like Pandya are gold dust, and difficult to replace. Nitish Kumar Reddy is perhaps the best fit, but he is not a great option at the powerplay or the death. Besides, he is prone to injuries.
Naturally, India have started to dip into their pool. They tried Shedge. Neither Shashank Singh nor Venkatesh Iyer may be in the mix, but the selectors would have been tracking Madhav Tiwari of the Delhi Capitals, who struck at 169 in the recent Madhya Pradesh T20 and opened bowling in quite a few games.
As of now, the problem remains unresolved. It will not matter if Pandya remains fit, but if he does not…
Bumrah and who?
Like Pandya, Axar Patel is perhaps irreplaceable as well. He can hit spin, adjust anywhere in the batting order, can chip in with four no-nonsense defensive overs, and is a brilliant fielder. Had he not been as good, Krunal Pandya – with more tricks up his sleeve than a few years ago – would probably have replaced him by now.
However, the rise of Krunal (and Harsh Dubey) would have put pressure on Washington Sundar, India’s other spin-bowling all-rounder, who may still get the nod because he bowls off-breaks.
Varun Chakaravarthy’s age (he is 34) and decline since David Miller took him down at the World Cup has not helped the Indian cause. India are unlikely to need two spinners in Australia or New Zealand in addition to their all-rounder(s), and Kuldeep Yadav will probably replace Varun in the XI.
Without Jasprit Bumrah In Ireland and England, India’s attack seemed to lack sting. With no Mohammed Siraj either, it lay threadbare once Harshit Rana was ruled out despite Arshdeep Singh’s presence. No Indian fast bowler got five wickets in England this time or went for under nine. Three of their English counterparts got seven each, and two of them had economy rates of 7.86 and 8.67.
Of course, there is still time. India tried out Prince Yadav and Prasidh Krishna here. Mayank Yadav, Ashok Sharma, and Yash Thakur will be there in Zimbabwe. It is not clear whether Bhuvneshwar Kumar is in the mix. Even if he is not, India have time – more so, because Bumrah may sit out of more games – and it is important to build that pace-bowling hierarchy.
