Kris Srikkanth, a former Indian captain, criticized the Men in Blue leadership group and team management for their poor performances in the recent T20Is. The Men in Blue were shockingly defeated 0-2 in Ireland in their first series after winning the 2026 T20 World Cup.

Things got worse in the recently finished T20I series in England, when India lost 0–4 in the five-match contest.

Aside from the results, the Indian team management has been scrutinized for frequently chopping and changing both young and experienced players. Shreyas Iyer's captaincy reign has not begun on a good note, with 6 T20I losses out of 7 matches.

"They'll just say transition for every format. It's all just manipulation of the media and fans. Even in transition, you should pick talented players, have the right selection criteria, and have the correct approach. Instead, you just sit and eat cashew nuts and peas in the dressing room.

If this is the way the players are going to be treated and groomed with knee-jerk reactions, everybody should be changed. The players are getting dropped immediately, so the same yardstick should apply to Gautam Gambhir and Shreyas Iyer also as captain and coach. How are you both performing in your roles? Same as the players you drop,” Srikkanth said on his YouTube channel.

Thanks to the 0-4 series loss to England, India suffered consecutive T20I series defeats for the first time in over seven years.

The Indian team management was further criticized by Kris Srikkanth for benching 15-year-old Vaibhav Sooryavanshi during the final T20I against England.  

Sooryavanshi became the youngest player to ever represent India when he made his debut in the second ODI of the series at the age of 15 years and 99 days. But after scoring just 42 runs in his first three appearances, the southpaw was benched for the series' final game.

"You drop him (Sooryavanshi) for struggling against Archer. Who didn't struggle against Archer in this team? I am very upset with the way they are treating him. This is not the way to groom a youngster. He should have been told that he wouldn't be dropped for ten innings and just to play his game.

Actually, Sooryavanshi should have played the two Ireland matches by resting Abhishek Sharma and Sanju Samson one game each. After seeing how he (Sooryavanshi) played, he should not have played against England at all and should have played only the Zimbabwe series. Now they've mixed everything up and ruined the entire team,” Srikkanth added.

Sooryavanshi will have a chance to prove himself when India clashes with Zimbabwe in a three-T20I series, as Sanju Samson is not picked in the Indian team.