Sunday’s 35-run victory against Zimbabwe brought the curtain down on India’s white-ball tour. While that victory will no doubt be welcomed by captain Shreyas Iyer, it does little to paper over the cracks of disappointing results against Ireland and England.
India failed to pick up a series win against either team in T20I or ODI formats this summer, giving the BCCI food for thought.
The board is now set to conduct a review in August, concerned by performances following the T20 World Cup win earlier this year, while it is also hoping to avoid a sustained dip in form with 14 months to go until the 2027 ODI World Cup.
The review’s findings are unlikely to be promising. Across both formats, India’s teams exhibited concerning qualities, ones that have to be addressed if they are to maintain their status as the No. 1 ranked teams in limited-overs cricket.
Pace bowling alternatives needed ahead of ODI World Cup
There was plenty of excitement surrounding the return of Jasprit Bumrah to the ODI fold for the first time in over two years, but he could only play two games of the series against England, taking 1-31 and 1-45.
Forced to sit out at Lord’s, India then paid the price by turning to inexperienced duo Gurnoor Brar and Prince Yadav, who both struggled.
Brar in particular looked poor, conceding 97 runs for no wickets in his 10 overs. And that brings concerns surrounding India’s seamers to the fore with just one year to go until the 2027 World Cup.
The team will need to find a new alternative to come in when Bumrah is fatigued, and the September series against the West Indies could be the time to experiment.
Fans will be keeping a close eye on those matches as the World Cup comes into view, with the best cricket betting sites in India recommended by Goal.com offering the latest odds on how the team is expected to fare in those ODI matches.
Batting inconsistencies to address
There were times throughout the month-long tour that India looked solid with the bat. In the first T20I against England, Shreyas Iyer and Abhishek Sharma both scored half-centuries.
Shubman Gill, Washington Sundar, and Axar Patel looked to be in good form in the first ODI. And against Zimbabwe, Ishan Kishan and Vaibhav Sooryavanshi notched big totals.
But there were equally disappointing performances in that time too, most notably in the third T20I against England, where India was bowled out for 76.
That inconsistency was best encapsulated by Sharma, who, after notching 59 against England, had a dramatic downturn in form, recording just 11 runs across three T20Is against Zimbabwe after low totals in the remaining matches against England.
This was perhaps an issue more closely tied to the T20I setup, as India looked slightly more consistent in the ODI series against England.
At the Asian Games in September, the team will hope that Sharma and indeed others in the batting lineup can bounce back from disappointing recent results.
Overseas performances against top teams are fundamentally concerning
What will be of concern, though, is how the white-ball setup fared as a whole overseas. A series win against Zimbabwe will have boosted confidence in some aspects, but there’s no escaping that against Ireland and England, India recorded just a single ODI win.
How the team performs outside of India, particularly at the T20I level, has unsurprisingly become a bigger talking point in the wake of those losses.
But the ODI losses to England are something of a wake-up call, particularly with just over a year to go until 14 teams head to South Africa, Zimbabwe, and Namibia for the World Cup.
If India is to go one better than in 2023 and win the competition for the first time since 2011, then it needs to find a way to get results more frequently abroad.
