BCCI concerned over India’s T20I slump, review planned after England series: Devajit Saikia
The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) will conduct a review of the national team’s performance after the ongoing T20I series against England, with secretary Devajit Saikia admitting the board is “deeply concerned” after India’s alarming record in the shortest format.
Shreyas Iyer’s team suffered their third straight defeat against England at the County Ground in Bristol on Thursday gave the hosts a 3-0 lead in the five-match series. The loss also marked India’s second T20I series defeat after a shock 2-0 whitewash at the hands of Ireland earlier this month.
The back-to-back defeats came as a major setback for the reigning T20 World Cup champions, who entered the tour on the back of 16 consecutive T20I series wins.
“We are deeply concerned about the performance of the Indian team and once this series is over, we will definitely check with the captain and the coach to understand what is going wrong and rectify the issues soon so that we can regain our position,” BCCI secretary Devajit Saikia told India Today.
INDIA’S SHARP DECLINE
India’s first task since winning the T20 World Cup titles at home in March last year has turned into a real test for the young squad assembled as part of a reshuffle.
Instead of building on their dominance, India have lost five of their last six T20Is. The tour began with an unprecedented 2-0 series defeat against Ireland, the first time India have lost a T20I series against Ireland.
In England, the situation only worsened. The second T20I in Nottingham ended in a record 125-run defeat after Jofra Archer and Josh Tongue dismantled India’s inexperienced batting line-up for just 76. Two days later in Bristol, India, they posted just 158 for seven before Harry Brook’s unbeaten 79 off 35 balls powered England to a crushing 1wick-4 victory.
IND vs ENG Highlights, 4th T20I
The string of defeats also threatened India’s long-standing No. 1 ranking in T20Is. The team has held the top spot since February 2022, but is now one defeat away from giving up.
‘SHREYAS LEADING FRONT’
India assistant coach Ryan ten Doeschate has backed Shreyas Iyer, saying he leads from the front with the bat but needs some time and support to shine as captain.
“He’s one of the lads who has taken advantage of the ability to use the wicket and so you have to play in that condition. He batted really well in all three innings. But again, I don’t want to stand and defend the players and be overly critical, but it’s up to the players to have the sense to accept that it’s going really badly and look at the evidence in front of them.”
“Shreyas is a fantastic leader and age-wise, if you look two years ahead in Australia, you have to make some really tough calls, there are a million opinions on that. The immediate resistance to change to a new captain after losing two games to Ireland and 3-0 in England I don’t think is very good. It’s important to look at things a bit realistically,” Ten Doeschate said.
– The end
Issued by:
Saurabh Kumar
Published on:
10 Jul 2026 12:38 IST