India’s T20 blueprint rattled as England’s 4-0 sweep rewrites the script at Southampton

England has emphatically dismantled Twenty20 cricket’s traditional powerhouse, delivering India a sobering reality check as it begins the two-year task of building a team capable of reclaiming the T20 World Cup.

The two-time T20 world champions in blue were listless in all facets of the format as England sealed a 4-0 series win after India conceded over 250 runs for the first time in a T20 at Southampton in the final game on Saturday.

England not only dominated all the Indian Premier League big hitters like Abhishek Sharma, Ishan Kishan and the newly crowned captain Shreyas Iyer, but Harry Brook’s men also shattered the confidence of 15-year-old prodigy Vaibhav Sooryavanshi.

The selectors’ road map for Sooryavanshi’s international debut after a bumper IPL season this year backfired big time. The left-hander was twice bounced out by his Rajasthan Royals teammate Jofra Archer and could manage only a combined score of 42 runs in three games.

The shortcomings in this Indian team -- without Jasprit Bumrah, Hardik Pandya and axed world cup winning captain Suryakumar Yadav — was quite evident when Ireland shocked them for a dream 2-0 win at home prior to the whitewash in England. The selectors left out Gujarat Titans skipper Shubman Gill, who could now come into the reckoning for the next T20 World Cup in Australia and New Zealand.

The aftermath of the series whitewash leaves India with some unwanted records: They had never lost six T20 games in a row; they were unbeaten in 16 T20 series and against England it was first time ever that they have been blanked in a bilateral series featuring more than two games.

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While India’s three openers struggled throughout the series, the middle-order seemed to lack clarity with constant shuffling between numbers five to eight in the batting lineup. Left-handed Tilak Varma, who had scored prolifically in Asian conditions made only 104 and that included a half century in the final game.

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“I guess we have spoken so much about adaptability, but I think it’s got to the point now where you actually have to unpack that suitcase,” India assistant coach Ryan 10 Doeschate had said after India lost the fourth game at Bristol.

“It’s easy to say we need to adapt. We need to assess and adapt. Every coach from under-nine cricket says that about every department of the game. It’s got to a point now where we actually have to really unpack what that means and understand the process that’s needed to be able to make those adaptations, so to speak.”

The batting coach said India has to accept the fact that the team is underachieving in foreign conditions and needs to have the mentality to make adjustments how to excel in different conditions.

“Do we want to be a team that smashes 250 in India and looks great when you hit 80-meter sixes at Eden Gardens? Or do we want to come to places like this and places like Manchester and places like Southampton where things are slightly different?

“And again, thinking further down the line, the MCG and those sort of places, do we want to be the team that actually excels in different conditions and do we have the mentality to make those adjustments? And that’s the mental challenge and that’s (what) we need the players to be able to take on.”

AP cricket: https://apnews.com/hub/cricket