India facing more T20 slump, as those who lifted Men in Blue once look to do it again India’s pride at stake

India's T20 title at stake. It's not in doubt anymore. If the Ireland loss was a one-off failure because of not adjusting to the conditions in the nation, the performances in England (on better pitches) have raised several questions.

Are the Indian batsmen over-eager? Are they not hitting the above par totals? Are they so weak without Jasprit Bumrah and Hardik Pandya that they can’t win a game?

New captain Shreyas Iyer, who started his reign in the worst possible way, rued that they were “awful” with the bat and the ball and in their execution. "The next two games give us a great opportunity to come back strong," he said. And they’d need it to get out of the slump. A slump that will deepen if they lose now.

First time since 2018-19 that India lost back-to-back T20I series. New slump. The ones who jolted the Indian side in the 2022 T20 World Cup semifinal and forced them to lift off from a yesteryear batting approach were England. That left them on a historic run since August 2023, when they last lost a T20I series before being propelled by Ireland recently. And now England dream of something like it.

England have never won a T20I bilateral series of 2+ matches against India. Not at home. Not away from home. Their first series win against two-time reigning T20 champions would be a big shot in the arm for the leadership group of Harry Brook and Brendon McCullum and they could be dreaming of a wonderland here.

Brook has won 18 of the last 21 completed T20I matches and a series win in India can do wonders for his captaincy CV, especially at a tricky time for the Test team. Ben Stokes has retired and Brook is the official Test vice-captain and might be the next Test captain. An India series win, albeit in a different format, will be a joy for the English side.

While England are on a roll under Brook, India are under the pump. Not that they can't bounce out of this. But five games without a win is no light pressure either. They have both been criticized in both departments. They had not learned to adapt to conditions and so could not hunt down targets in Ireland.

In the second T20I against England, Tilak Varma’s late flourish helped them to 190/7, but some poor bowling allowed the Three Lions to chase down the target with an over to spare. Their batting committed hara-kiri in the third clash in Nottingham when they were bowled out for 76 chasing 202. It was their longest such streak as they went on to lose their fifth straight match in the T20Is.

There's still a series draw up for grabs but it would take a bit of work to get that. Two more wins in the next two games will do it. But it looks a high mountain to climb at present. Pride is at stake, another series defeat looms large and India need to answer the call as they did after that 2022 loss to England.