India T20 captain Shreyas Iyer described his side's batting display as "atrocious" and "unacceptable" after a crushing 125-run defeat to England in the third T20I, admitting the team must "go back to the drawing board" following another disappointing performance.
The reigning T20 World Cup champions are enduring a difficult transition after their title-winning campaign earlier this year. India, who were whitewashed 0-2 by Ireland before the England tour, now trail 0-2 in the five-match series after the opening game was washed out. With only two matches remaining, the best they can achieve is a drawn series.
India are also still searching for their first T20I victory under Iyer's captaincy, with the team's struggles raising questions about the post-World Cup transition following the removal of former captain Suryakumar Yadav, who also lost his place in the side due to poor form. Speaking after the match, Iyer said India's batting collapse was the biggest reason behind the heavy defeat and insisted the pitch did not warrant a 200-plus total despite England's imposing score.
"I think it was atrocious. I couldn't use a better word, honestly. Losing by such a big margin is definitely not acceptable," Iyer said.
"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-run wicket, first of all. But other than that, the way we batted, we lost five wickets in the powerplay. I think that itself created the momentum, and I definitely feel that we lost over there. So, we have got to go back to the drawing board."
Looking ahead to the fourth T20I on July 9, Iyer said there was no point dwelling on the defeat and urged his players to focus on making a stronger impact in the next game. He also stressed the importance of maintaining the right tempo while chasing big totals.
England's victory was powered by an excellent all-round performance, with explosive batting followed by a devastating pace attack led by Jofra Archer and Josh Tongue, who dismantled India's batting line-up at Nottingham. With the win, England took a 2-0 lead in the five-match series after the first T20I ended without a result due to rain. India, meanwhile, remain winless under Iyer's leadership after also suffering a series whitewash against Ireland.
After winning the toss and opting to bowl, India initially made inroads despite a brisk opening stand between Phil Salt and Jos Buttler. Buttler scored 36 off 21 balls before being dismissed by Prince Yadav, who reduced England to 43 for 1.
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England slipped to 111/4 after 12 overs, with Prince and Harshit Rana putting India briefly on top. However, Salt anchored the innings with a commanding 70 off 44 balls, striking six fours and three sixes. He shared a crucial 47-run partnership with Sam Curran, whose unbeaten 41 off 24 balls provided the late flourish. Will Jacks chipped in with a quick 14 off seven deliveries as England posted a formidable 201/7.
Prince returned figures of 2/30, while Harshit claimed 2/40. Axar Patel also picked up a wicket. India's chase began brightly as Abhishek Sharma and teenage opener Vaibhav Sooryavanshi cleared the ropes early, but Archer and Tongue quickly turned the game around. India slumped to 29/2 inside three overs before collapsing to 52/5 during the powerplay.
There was no recovery from there as wickets continued to tumble, with India eventually being bowled out for just 76 in 11.4 overs. Ishan Kishan (13) and Axar Patel (10) were the only other batters to reach double figures. Tongue starred with figures of 4/28, while Archer claimed 3/29 with a fiery spell. Veteran leg-spinner Adil Rashid also picked up two wickets to cap another impressive performance.
Rashid reached 468 international wickets, moving past former England fast bowler Darren Gough (466) to become England's fourth-highest wicket-taker across formats. He also overtook Ish Sodhi to become the second-highest wicket-taker in T20I history with 166 wickets, behind Rashid Khan, who leads the list with 193.
Archer was named Player of the Match for his match-winning spell as India suffered their biggest defeat by runs in T20I cricket. The loss also extended India's longest winless streak in the format, with four defeats and one no result since lifting the T20 World Cup earlier this year. India's total of 76 also became their second-lowest score in T20 internationals, behind the 74 they were bowled out for against Australia in 2008.
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