Test of India’s leadership: Gautam Gambhir & Shreyas Iyer ponder over selection for IND vs ENG T20I series

Following that historic series defeat to Ireland, India’s think tank and management have a lot to ponder over ahead of the India vs England T20I series. Fresh off a hectic Indian Premier League (IPL) 2026 season on batting-friendly surfaces, the batters failed to adapt to a bouncy track in Belfast.

Two schools of thought seem to be circulating. The first wants heads to roll. It’s the worst-ever defeat. Drop players, sack the coach, and whatever else goes with it. The second would be to ignore what happened. It’s a non-consequential series. You’ve just won a T20 World Cup, and most of the players haven’t had much rest.

Neither is exactly right. You can’t flip everything on its head after one bad series. Mind you, India hadn’t lost a T20I series since August 2023. We are at the start of the 2-year cycle. Had this come late 2027, one could be worried. Similarly, one can’t ignore the issue with certain players.

Will Samson be backed over Sooryavanshi?

Let’s start from the start. Sanju Samson seemed to realise his potential and become consistent at the end of the T20 World Cup. Scores of 97*, 89 and 89 were in what were the 3 biggest matches of his career. Well, that didn’t happen. Samson smashed 2 hundreds in IPL 2026, yet he didn’t score 500 runs. Against Ireland, he lasted 5 balls in 2 matches.

Vaibhav Sooryavanshi warms the bench as Samson continues to be hit or miss. The management has publicly backed Samson over Sooryavanshi during and after the series. But with Ishan Kishan, another wicketkeeper present, one wonders how long Samson has.

Assuming he records low scores in the first three T20Is against England, will the management still persist with him? Can you keep Sooryavanshi, arguably the best T20 batter in the world, on the bench while one of the permanent openers fails? It’s a question Shreyas Iyer and Gautam Gambhir must address.

Tilak Varma’s struggles

Tilak Varma probably doesn’t deserve to stay in the team. He continues to struggle in the middle overs. It was apparent in the T20 World Cup, the IPL, and now against Ireland. The southpaw scored 19 off 21 and 55 off 46. Mind you, he’s the vice-captain. Therefore, the least likely person after Shreyas to get dropped from the team.

Does the management have the guts to drop him? He struggles against spin. Since 2025 in the IPL, Tilak’s strike rate against spin is just 115.50, the fifth worst among batters who’ve faced 50 balls. For a middle-order batter, it’s a prerequisite to play spin well. Yet, it’s what Tilak struggles with the most. The issue has been apparent for a while. Tilak has neither worked on it nor has the management addressed it.

What is Washington Sundar’s role?

Perhaps the biggest frustration was Washington Sundar. No one really knows what his role is. He bowled one over, the 16th. Why wasn’t he brought on earlier? Considering he isn’t a death bowler, why was he handed the ball? Under Gambhir, Washington has bowled fewer than 2 overs per game – 30.2 overs in 16 matches.

His role in the batting department isn’t clear either. In 18 matches, Washington has batted just 11 times. Moreover, as things stand, he and Axar Patel fight for the same middle-order batting position. Only one of them can play there. Add Shivam Dube to the mix, and that further complicates things.

Predicted India’s Playing XI vs England 1st T20I

Abhishek Sharma, Sanju Samson (wk), Ishan Kishan, Shreyas Iyer (c), Tilak Varma (vc), Shivam Dube, Axar Patel, Harshit Rana, Prince Yadav, Varun Chakaravarthy, Arshdeep Singh

Bench: Washington Sundar, Ravi Bishnoi, Prasidh Krishna, Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, Suryansh Shedge

England vs India T20I series schedule

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