The performances and results of the reigning T20 World Cup holders have been a complete flip from what was expected of them on their ongoing tour of the UK.
In the T20I series right after Suryakumar Yadav captained India to the 2026 T20 World Cup trophy, the BCCI selectors made the bold move of dropping the skipper. And instead of naming someone the new captain from the squad, the Ajit Agarkar-led selection committee brought in Shreyas Iyer, who hadn’t played a T20I since 2023, and appointed him the new leader of the T20I team.
In a further huge move, Iyer and Gambhir dropped Sanju Samson, the Player of the Tournament earlier this year, after only three failures to blood in Vaibhav Sooryavanshi in the side on the back of the 15-year-old’s pyrotechnics in the IPL 2026.
Clearly, these moves haven’t paid the dividends yet. India has failed to win a single match of the five completed games on the tour so far. Under Iyer, India lost their first-ever T20I series to Ireland and now sit 3-0 behind against Harry Brook’s England, with only a game in hand.
India have lost two consecutive T20I series for the first time since 2019, adding more unwanted records to Gambhir’s coaching tenure.
Sooryavanshi has managed scores of 14, 13, and 15 so far, having taken Samson’s spot as an opener.
There have been more flaws in this side apart from these two concerning factors, and the BCCI will set a review meeting after the ODI series concludes.
‘We consider it as a purely bad phase’: BCCI to review Gautam Gambhir
Amid the mounting pressure on Iyer and Gambhir, BCCI secretary Devajit Saikia spoke with the media after the loss in the 4th T20I. Admitting that India have been underwhelming in the T20Is, Saikia hinted at a full assessment of India’s tour of the UK, especially in the T20 format.
Speaking on the sidelines of the ICC Annual conference in Scotland, BCCI secretary Devajit Saikia told PTI:
“The BCCI is currently observing the performance of the Indian T20 team, which has not been up to the mark in the ongoing series against England.
“However, this is not something abnormal and can happen in international cricket. We consider it as a purely bad phase. Once the ODI series gets over on July 19 and the team comes back, we will have a review meeting with core members of the team to discuss what went wrong in England. Since there is an ODI series, we are hoping that team will be back in good form.”
Will Gautam Gambhir be sacked as the head coach?
It is unlikely – or even not plausible at the moment – that Gambhir will be removed as the coach of the Indian team after consecutive series defeats in Ireland and England as India won two white-ball ICC trophies in two years under Gambhir, and he will remain the coach at least until the 2027 World Cup, when his contract ends.
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