10 July,2026 08:45 AM IST | Mumbai | The Editorial
Shreyas Iyer, India’s T20 captain. Pic/BCCI
India, winners of the last two T20 cricket World Cups in 2024 and 2026, have plummeted to worrying depths. Not winning five games after being crowned champions in March is an unwanted sequence. Invariably, matches in this format are last-over, if not last-ball, thrillers. But look what happened on Tuesday at Trent Bridge. India ended up losing by 125 runs, demolished by a dynamic England side.
The Indian bowlers allowed England to blast them all over Trent Bridge for a total of 201-7. The woes for the visitors continued when it was their turn to bat. By the 12th over, it was all over, bowled out for 76. Two batsmen got 13 while two got 10 as India were blown away in conditions where skills had to be truly displayed as against the mere see-the-ball, hit-the-ball approach on flatter pitches.
Is the balance of the team right? Is this a tired bunch? Is the team gelling well under a new captain? Is another series defeat after Ireland now imminent? These questions may reflect an alarmist mindset, but they cannot be brushed aside. It's time the entire squad in England (support staff included) dug deep into their innermost reserves to get themselves out of this hole. It has to start with captain Shreyas Iyer, who has replaced a World Cup-winning captain in the hot seat after Ajit Agarkar & Co ruthlessly sacked Suryakumar Yadav for a poor IPL.
The same panel has now left out 2026 World Cup hero Sanju Samson for the Zimbabwe series. No official explanation for this decision was given by the BCCI. Poor form on and off the field, indeed.
