Team India suffered another humiliating defeat in the ongoing five-T20I series against England, going down by nine wickets in the penultimate fixture in Bristol on Thursday (July 9). As a result, the hosts sealed the series with an unassailable 3-0 lead.
Opting to bat first, India posted a modest score of 158/7 on the board, with captain Shreyas Iyer’s unbeaten 80 off 49 balls rescuing the innings after top-order perished cheaply once again.
England made light work of the chase, reaching 159/1 in just 13.5 overs as skipper Harry Brook (79* off 35) and Phil Salt (59* off 42) struck dominant half-centuries.
Speaking on Cricbuzz, former India wicketkeeper Dinesh Karthik delivered a scathing review of India’s crushing loss in the fourth T20I, saying the visitors’ cautious approach with the bat led to their downfall.
"Just in the fourth game of the series, and the series is done 3-0. You could feel that India were very cautious with their approach. It was Shreyas, who took the score to 159, which definitely looked under par. Harry Brook and Phil Salt absolutely hammered India and took England home in a canter. India were outplayed, outfielded, and definitely annihilated," Karthik said.
"I think India have a problem adapting to a little bit of extra bounce. Right now Archer is leading the battle against Vaibhav Sooryavanshi 2-0. Ishan Kishan, very circumspect, for the second time in two games, the pull shot not being his friend. Abhishek Sharma, on a pitch where he could have dominated the spinners, got out after not committing to a pull shot," he added.
However, Karthik commended Shreyas Iyer for his rescue act in Bristol, citing that it felt he was stamping his authority as captain.
"India's lone shining star in this game was their skipper, Shreyas Iyer. It almost felt like he was stamping his authority as a skipper, but whatever he did, it was just not good enough. India lost three wickets in the first seven overs, so Shreyas had to play a bit of a steady kind of role, which he did. He eventually finished with 80, but what was amazing is that if Iyer had not got going, India would have ended up 130-140 for all you know. For a captain who's under pressure, who has last four games, for him to stand up and say, 'I need to be counted as a batter', is a good attitude," Karthik remarked.
India will look to salvage some pride when they take on England in the fifth and final T20I in Southampton on Saturday (July 11).
