India could not manage a single victory in the five-match series against England, and have now lost six of their last seven T20Is.
Nothing has gone India’s way since Shreyas Iyer took over as the T20I captain. After their drubbing against Ireland in Belfast, they lost 0-4 in England. On the back of that 0-4 sweep, the visitors have now lost each of their last six decided T20Is.
After rain played spoilsport in the first T20I, England won the second by four wickets, thanks to Jacob Bethell's unbeaten 76. From that point, there was no looking behind for the hosts. They won the third game by 125 runs. India changed their XI multiple times, but none played to their advantage. Vaibhav Sooryavanshi debuted in the second T20I, and was replaced by Sanju Samson for the fifth. The Indian bowlers were unable to crack the code – something which Jofra Archer & co. managed wonderfully throughout the series.
As a result, England climbed to the top of the ladder in the ICC T20I Men's rankings, displacing India at the top spot that they had held for four years.
India will now tour Zimbabwe for their three T20Is later this month. Here is what went wrong for the visitors in the England series:
Samson to Samson via Vaibhav
The visitors kept shuffling their playing XI across the series, which did not allow them to maintain a stable XI. After three failures at the top of the order, the management dropped Sanju Samson for Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, who became the youngest to play for India.
However, the youngster made only 42 runs across three innings with a highest score of 15, and could not capitalise on his starts. India dropped him for the fifth T20I to recall Samson.
Though both men got opportunities to showcase their skills, it did not really help them mentally. In a high-risk role like a T20I opener, cricketers need to be assured that they would get a long run even if they fail while trying to take risks.
Also read: Marks out of 10: Player ratings for India after their 0-4 series defeat to England
Middle-order muddle
Barring Sooryavanshi and Samson, India's top four stayed constant throughout the series, but the same can hardly be said about the rest of the middle order.
In the first T20I, Tilak Varma batted at five and Shivam Dube at six. While Dube hit 42 not out in 21 balls, Tilak struggled. The positions were reversed in the second T20I, with Tilak hitting an 11-ball 24 not out from No.6.
Tilak's T20 strike rate in the middle overs (7-15) stands at 132, but that comes down to a mere 116 in 2026. In contrast to that, he strikes at 199 at the death (16-20), which soares to a mammoth 257 this year. In addition to that, his acceleration issues against spin in the middle overs are now a familiar problem.
Dube is the better hitter against spin. Hence, playing them at positions that suit their strengths is important, and this is where India missed the trick. In the third T20I, Dube was sent at eight, while Axar Patel came at five. However, this was the only instance of Axar batting at five in the five-match series.
The team management also seemed too keen on right-left combinations. This was perhaps why Harshit Rana came ahead of Dube in the third T20I. With Axar promoted to five and Tilak at six, India felt the need to send out a right-hander. A left-hander known for his abilities against spin would have been the better choice for the ball coming into him (Adil Rashid).
The adaptability factor
Each of India's top four (five including Sooryavanshi) was among the best batters for their fanchise in IPL 2026. Yet, all of them struggled to get going in the series (barring a couple of occasions). The same format, the same bowlers – so what changed?
The conditions at the 2026 IPL are a stark contrast to what was offered in England. There, the conditions favoured the bowlers a lot more than they do in the IPL. The pitches were a lot livelier than what they usually are in the IPL.
Bowlers like Jofra Archer and Josh Tongue were amongst the top wicket-takers in the series, and they managed to rattle the Indians with raw pace and steep bounce.
India assistant coach Ryan ten Doeschate discussed the adaptability issue after the fourth T20I: "I guess we have spoken so much about adaptability, but I think it's got to the point now where you actually have to unpack that suitcase. It's easy to say we need to adapt, we need to assess and adapt. I think every coach from under-nine cricket says that about every department of the game. I think it's got to a point now where we actually have to really unpack what that means and understand the process that's needed to be able to make those adaptations, so to speak."
One problem India faced was the similarity in how the batters were dismissed. Both Sooryavanshi and Kishan were targeted with the short delivery, and fell to it multiple times. As the ball came much quicker than in India and got bigger on the batters, the Indians struggled.
The bowling woes
England took a wicket every 16 balls in the series, while India struck once every 29 balls. England’s economy of 8.83 was also significanly better than India’s 10.91. They could neither contain England nor strike.
As their batters kept struggling against England, the Indian bowlers got hammered. India lacked depth in their bowling – the injuries towards the end of the series did not help – and the lack of experience showed in the lengths they kept hitting. In contrast, England used the hard lengths to good effect, limiting India's ability to slog. To add to that, India's fielding was sub-par as well, which did not aid their bowlers.
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