13 July,2026 08:31 PM IST | Mumbai | mid-day online correspondent
MSK Prasad (Pic: X/@LucknowIPL)
In the fifth T20I match against England, Team India suffered a loss by 56 runs at The Ageas Bowl in West End.
With this, the visitors lost the series by 0-4 against the Englishmen, with the first game abandoned due to rain. Following the loss, Team India's head coach Gautam Gambhir found himself at the centre of criticism.
Former Team India cricketer MSK Prasad defended the incumbent head coach by saying that he alone can't be blamed for the defeat.
"Just because the team has not done well, we cannot put the onus on head coach alone. We cannot say Gambhir has not inspired the team. At the same time, just because we won tournaments or World Cups doesn't mean that it's only Gambhir who has inspired the team. It is a combination of many things. It is too premature to write off Gambhir," he told PTI.
He also feels that Team India's think tank should be judged only after the conclusion of the team's upcoming T20I series, when Jasprit Bumrah and Hardik Pandya would likely make their appearances.
"What we have to assess is when we play the next T20I series when the whole side is there, including Bumrah and Pandya, how does this team fare? Then we can talk about who is inspiring whom, or whether the captain is able to handle it, or coach is able to handle it. So, the next T20 series is something we have to really assess," said Prasad.
Team India will now engage in the three-match ODI series against England. The cricket fans will be excited to witness superstars Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma take the field.
The first match of the three-match series against the Englishmen is scheduled to be played on July 14 at the Edgbaston Cricket Ground in Birmingham. The second ODI between the teams will be played on July 16 at the Sophia Gardens Cricket Ground in Cardiff. The Lord's Cricket Ground in the City of Westminster will host the third ODI on July 19.
It will be interesting to see if the "Men in Blue" manage to register a win in the ODI series, after consecutive defeats in the two T20I series against Ireland and England. The visitors' management will expect Kohli and Rohit to deliver big performances against the hosts.
India: Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, KL Rahul (WK), Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah, Shreyas Iyer, Ishan Kishan (WK), Prasidh Krishna, Washington Sundar, Shivam Dube, Shubman Gill (C), Arshdeep Singh, Gurnoor Brar, Harshit Rana, Prince Yadav.
England: Liam Dawson, Adil Rashid, Jos Buttler (WK), Joe Root, Ben Duckett, Jofra Archer, Saqib Mahmood, Sam Curran, Josh Tongue, Harry Brook (C), Tom Banton (WK), Will Jacks, Gus Atkinson, James Coles, Jacob Bethell, Rehan Ahmed.
(With PTI Inputs)
