Indian cricket has to be careful with their transition lest they risk a "dark period"

XtraTime Newsdesk: Yesterday, the Indian cricket team lost to England in the most humiliating manner as they were handed a 125 run defeat in the third T20I. With this, England have taken an unassailable 2-0 lead in the series. India, meanwhile, has lost 4 consecutive T20I matches which is a feat that hasn’t been “achieved” for quite a long time. The Indian team also hasn’t lost a T20I game by 100+ runs - again a new “milestone" achieved by a team who apparently don’t care about it. 

In the matcg, England scored 201/7 in 20 overs on a pitch that can only be considered a belter. India, though, struggled on this pitch . That struggle led to the whole team getting dismissed within 11 overs, scoring just 76 runs. It was a new low for a team that won the T20 World Cup just four months back. 

This new low has led to people questioning the capability of the team in away conditions. Players like Tilak Varma and Ishan Kishan are able to feast on placid highway like pitches at home but are not being able to do the job on pitches that are a bit spicier. Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, too, showed his inexperience in dealing with international conditions. He did end up being the top scorer for India(13) in the innings ironically. 

Credit has to be given to Josh Tongue and Jofra Archer for bringing India down with good ol' 90 mph pace bowling. No Indian batter had the answer to this. Abhishek Sharma, Ishan Kishan and Shreyas Iyer were all caught in the deep ,square of the wicket, but the crucial moment was the fall of Sooryavanshi. In his second international, the left-hander sliced the second ball he faced, off Archer, for six over third man. The 15 year old clipped his next delivery, off Tongue, over mid-wicket for another six. But England had a plan to test him with the short ball. In Archer's next over, he served up a 90mph bouncer that Sooryavanshi gloved to wicketkeeper Jos Buttler. Before the powerplay was over, Archer also had Tilak Varma edge behind, the first time India have lost five wickets in the powerplay of a men's T20 international.

Adil Rashid, Will Jacks took the rest to lead England to an iconic series win. Indian batters showed no dynamism to their approach. One route hit and giggle cricket works on Indian pitches in the IPL but with the T20 World Cup taking place in Australia and New Zealand next, things can go awry if they don’t modify their approach. 

English batters struggled as well initially but Phil Salt sticking around made things easier for England. The opening batter, usually ultra-aggressive from the outset, had been frustrated by his inability to time the ball early in his innings. On one occasion, when he missed, he yelled to the heavens in frustration, then celebrated when he toe-ended to third man for four. 

After scoring 17 off the first 19 balls he faced, the opener got rolling by hitting six off Varun Chakravarthy's leg-spin. India got ragged as England accelerated, with Shivam Dube particularly having a terrible time on the pitch.

Forever the nemesis, Sam Curran and Salt added 47 off 26 balls for their team before the latter sliced the left-arm spin of Axar Patel to backward point. Curran, a possibility to replace the retiring Ben Stokes in England's Test team, extended his fine run in the series with another 35 off 17 balls alongside Will Jacks.Curran's only job that day was to bat. The all-rounder's bowling was not needed because of how dominant England was.

India were thoroughly humiliated. They looked toothless, harmless, and scared. The team was scared of moving away from their template. India became the dominant T20 team by selecting players who can hit from the word go. Pitches in the country were made to ensure that approach succeeded. They won this year’s T20 World Cup based on that approach. 

Yet, a few months later, the team looks unsure. Nobody knows who will be axed next. Sanju Samson was the star of the World Cup but he too, got dropped by the current coaching team for his dismal performances in the Ireland series. 

Shreyas Iyer, too, hasn’t shown how good he is as a captain. Against Ireland and England, his batting was dismal and his captaincy, pathetic. Overloading on slower bowlers in the 2nd T20I has to be one of the biggest blunders any captain can make in English conditions. The faster bowlers(Arshdeep Singh, Prasidh Krishna, Harshit Rana) too did not impress anyone with their wayward lines which gave reprieve to batsmen like Salt and Jacob Bethell in this series. 

Some fans are terming this defeat as a “dark period” for Indian cricket. Yet, calling it a “dark period” might be too premature. The series is not yet entirely lost and there will be opportunities for the coaching staff to see what works for them before 2028 but this portends a very tough transition for the team. If Gautam Gambhir and co. don’t handle this carefully, it might just end up being an “era to forget” for fans all over the country.