Not long ago, India were an invincible T20I team, and possibly the strongest in history. Why then, have they created cracks for themselves, questions Sarah Waris?
When India lifted the T20 World Cup in 2024, it felt like the closing of one chapter and the start of another. The scars of the 2022 meltdown, when the run rate crawled and the batting looked trapped, had pushed the team towards a more purposeful approach. In 2024, they finally played like they had wanted to, resulting in a memorable T20 title.
If the World Cup win was a triumph of intent, the months that followed showcased the true scale of India’s potential. They won 17 of their next 20 T20Is, but it was not the wins that captured attention; it was how violently they dismantled opposition attacks. They breached 200 eight times, crossed 220 on five occasions, and punched past 245 three times. There was that surreal 283-1 against South Africa, followed by the near-miss of a 300-run landmark against Bangladesh. Their scoring rate touched 9.90 an over, they smashed 195 sixes, nearly 10 a game, and their top five collectively averaged 36.23 with a strike rate of 167.27, comfortably the highest among Full Member nations.
Five of the seven batters who played consistently during this phase crossed 200 runs and struck at over 170. The two who didn’t did not reflect a problem: Hardik Pandya had different responsibilities, and Shubman Gill, with his strike rate of 129.25, featured in only seven of the 20 games. It was a batting line-up that was in contention to be the greatest ever in T20I history.
But something changed.
Since the start of the Asia Cup, India have lost only two of their 14 matches, the latest coming against South Africa on Thursday. But the sheen has dulled. Their run rate has slipped to 8.87, the team strike rate has fallen to 141.64, and there have been no centurions. The numbers are propped up almost entirely by Abhishek Sharma’s strike rate of 183.81. Beyond him, not a single Indian batter has scored more than 100 runs at over 145 in this period. It is a puzzling regression for a side that once looked destined to permanently redefine attacking T20 cricket. So, what went wrong?
The answers lie at the top, quite literally.
How a forced opening pair change disturbed India’s rhythm
India’s dominance through 2024 and early 2025 grew from the Sanju Samson and Abhishek Sharma partnership at the top of the order. Across 16 innings, they averaged 33.43 and struck at a remarkable 193.84, which set the tone for the mayhem that followed. India had a strike rate of 154.56 in the middle overs and 169.39 in the death, and they were the spark that made the whole structure click.
Then came the pivot.
With the selectors viewing Gill as India’s next all-format captain, he was moved into the XI and pushed to open. You always pick your captain based on the performers in the team, but this was different. It was a call driven by long-term thinking without performances to show for it. Gill’s new partnership with Abhishek has, on paper, been productive - they average 39.30 and strike at 183.81 - but the numbers hide an imbalance. In seven of his 14 innings in this role, Gill’s strike rate has dipped below 135, turning Abhishek into a solo aggressor rather than an equal partner. In the earlier phase, both openers flew. Now only one does, and if Abhishek falls early, the edifice collapses.
The ripple effect has been even more damaging. Samson scored 417 runs in 12 matches at 37.90 and 183.70 between July 2024 and 2025, with three hundreds, as India seemed to finally unlock his true potential up the order. With Gill’s arrival, Samson was tried out lower down the order, where he has managed only 134 runs at a strike rate of 121.81. Gill, on the other hand, is yet to score a fifty and has a strike rate of 142.93 with nine scores of 20 or lower since his comeback. Why a batter in peak form has been repositioned into mediocrity is an answer we are unlikely to get.
India now have a middle-order strike rate of 130.84 with a death-overs strike rate of 145.99. They have scored 200 just once, and 180 three times (one of these against Oman). The change in the opening partnership is not the only reason for the sudden dip in tempo, because skipper Suryakumar Yadav is struggling, and Tilak Varma has a similar role as that of Gill. Wicketkeeper Jitesh Sharma can be threatening on his day, but when you had Samson in that role, there was no reason for a change. It has pushed all-rounders into finishing positions more naturally suited to Rinku Singh, who is not in the squad, leading to a team that suddenly isn’t playing the best players in their best roles anymore. This is not how the blueprint was designed to operate.
India’s bowling balance sees a shift
What made India so formidable through 2024 and the first half of 2025 was not merely the fearlessness of their top order but the balance that cushioned it. Hardik Pandya took on more duties with the ball, and he had one specialist seamer alongside him, and three all-rounders (including Hardik) in the XI.
With three all-rounders, India always had a sixth bowler, sometimes a seventh. It meant their batting stretched deep enough for the top order to swing with clear minds. A wicket or two inside the powerplay did not cause a recalibration. Every batter played the role best suited to them, and the bowlers had additional back-up in case of an off-day.
In the ongoing South Africa series, they have played Hardik alongside Arshdeep Singh and Jasprit Bumrah, reducing the number of all-rounders in the side to two (Hardik and Axar Patel). With fewer all-rounders, the batting instantly feels shorter. The safety net has suddenly gone, and if this experiment continues, instead of attacking through the middle overs, they will begin tiptoeing around match situations, aware that a collapse would leave them exposed.
To arrest the lack of depth, India pushed Axar Patel, who has a T20I strike rate of 135.11 and an average of 20.02, in at No.3 in the run chase of 214 after the team collapsed to 19-2 against the Proteas. It was a defensive move - to shield the specialist batters from the pressure rather than confront it head-on.
Assistant coach Ryan ten Doeschate explained the switch as an attempt to “extend the batting,” but the question is unavoidable: why not strengthen the order with players suited to those positions instead of forcing a workaround? The statement also indirectly acknowledged that the batting unit no longer feels as mighty as it once did. That is difficult to justify in a country with India’s depth, where batters are readily available for each position. Playing the best team should never be a compromise, but this seems like one.
India once had the cleanest T20 template in world cricket: clear roles, long batting, multiple bowling options, and the freedom to attack. In shifting away from that template, they have made themselves more cautious with the bat.
The most frustrating part? None of this disruption was forced. It was a choice. a deliberate reshaping of a system that was already working better than anything India had achieved in the format. With the World Cup two months away, experimentation is understandable, but there is a difference between trying combinations and dismantling the balance that made you exceptional in the first place. India had a model that let them breathe fire, but right now, it’s all smoke.
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