NEW DELHI: India’s disastrous white-ball tour of the United Kingdom has prompted the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) to announce a detailed review of the men’s T20I team, with secretary Devajit Saikia confirming that the side’s performances will come under the scanner immediately after the ongoing England tour concludes.The announcement comes after the reigning T20 World Cup champions slumped to a crushing nine-wicket defeat against England in Bristol, handing the hosts an unassailable 3-0 lead in the five-match series.Speaking to IANS from Edinburgh, where the ICC Annual Conference is being held, Saikia admitted that India are going through a difficult phase but expressed confidence that the board would identify the problems and work towards fixing them.
‘The team will be reviewed after the series’
“The thing is very simple. The Indian T20I team is going through a bad phase in their games against England and Ireland before. So, we have to do a review once this series is over. Right now, a bad phase is going on in terms of the performance of the men’s T20I team,” Saikia said.“So, we will have to look into what the problems they are facing, and we will definitely try to sort it out in a detailed review once the series is over,” he added.Saikia also confirmed the timeline for the exercise, saying: “The review will happen immediately after the ODI series ends in England on July 19.”
India’s tour goes from bad to worse
India’s white-ball campaign has unravelled over the past few weeks. The visitors were first handed a historic 0-2 T20I series whitewash by Ireland before England wrapped up the ongoing five-match series with a dominant victory in Bristol.In the fourth T20I, India managed only 158/7 after opting to bat, with skipper Shreyas Iyer’s unbeaten 80 standing out as the lone bright spot. England then made light work of the chase as captain Harry Brook (79 not out) and Phil Salt (59 not out) stitched together an unbeaten partnership to seal victory with more than six overs to spare.The defeats have exposed several concerns for the Indian side. The batting unit has struggled to adapt to seam-friendly conditions, the bowling attack has missed the presence of key all-rounder Hardik Pandya and pace spearhead Jasprit Bumrah, while the fielding has also fallen below the high standards expected of the defending world champions.With only the fifth T20I in Southampton remaining before attention shifts to the three-match ODI series, India will be desperate to end the losing streak on a positive note.
