Top News

India captain Shreyas Iyer admitted his side was nowhere near the standard required after England crushed them by 125 runs in the third T20I at Trent Bridge, sealing the five-match series with two matches still to play. Chasing 202, India folded for just 76, their second-lowest total in men’s T20Is, with the batting lineup unable to cope with the pace and bounce generated by Jofra Archer and Josh Tongue.

The defeat also marked India’s heaviest loss by runs in T20I history. None of their batters crossed 13, and the chase was effectively derailed inside the powerplay as four wickets fell in quick succession. Speaking after the match, Iyer did not hold back in his assessment of the team’s all-round display.

"I think it was atrocious. I couldn't use a better word, honestly."

Iyer said the match slipped away early when India failed to build any stability at the top of the innings. He also suggested that England’s total of 201 for 7 was above par for the surface, making India’s batting collapse even harder to accept from the visitors’ point of view. At the post-match press conference, Shreyas said,

"Losing by such a big margin is definitely not acceptable, First things first, I feel that we need to accept this loss and completely go back to the drawing board and see what we did wrong.

 

"Looking at the wicket, I don't think that it was a 200 wicket, first of all, to start with. But other than that, the way we batted, we lost four wickets in the power play. I think that itself didn't create a momentum and definitely I feel that we lost over there."

Read also: Tom Banton takes stunning catch to dismiss Harshit Rana as Jos Tongue gets 4-fer

Beyond the batting collapse, Iyer said India failed to read the conditions quickly enough and did not execute the hard lengths that suited the surface. He added that the chase lacked planning and momentum, with the team unable to settle into any pattern once early wickets fell.

"I think you can plan a lot once you're there in the team meeting. But once you come to the ground, you need to adapt as quickly as possible and try to figure out what lengths are important to bowl on a particular wicket. Like this today, the hard lengths were helping the bowlers pretty well. I think we didn't execute that much.

 

"And even in our batting, I think when you're chasing 200, you need to pace up your innings. You need to have a set of pattern how you're going to go about that inning. So we fell a bit short in terms of that. So definitely execution was awful."

With the series already gone, Iyer said the focus must now shift to individual accountability and learning before the final two games.

"We've played awful cricket for sure, but a lot of learnings from it as well. Players have to start thinking how to basically make an impact or create that momentum towards the team. So definitely every individual have to think by himself and see how they can win the matches and take that sort of responsibility."