IMAGE: India’s players during the third and final ODI against England at Lord’s on Sunday, July 19, 2026. Photographs: BCCI
Key Points
India suffered three consecutive series defeats across formats during their tour of England and Ireland.
India’s pacers struggled to contain the England batting line-up during the three-match ODI series.
The regular injuries to players is also a major worry for Captain Shubman Gill going into next year’s World Cup.
India’s dismal run in the UK continued as they suffered a 1-2 defeat in the ODI series against England, suffering their third consecutive series loss in white-ball cricket.
India started off the three-match ODI series on a bright note with a thumping six wicket victory at Birmingham, before England stormed back with clinical victories in the next two games to claim the ODI series.
For the Indians, Rohit Sharma’s return to form will come as a big relief. Coming into the game on back of speculations about his retirement, the veteran opener silenced his critics with a blistering century, smashing 138 from 110 balls. Virat Kohli continues to be reliable with the bat with two fifties in England along with Captain Shubman Gill, who also hit a couple of fifties.
However, India’s bowling attack was exposed big time in the ODI series.
With Jasprit Bumrah sidelined because of injury, India’s inexperienced pace attack was taken apart by England in a run-fest at Lord’s.
The strange decision to bench Kuldeep Yadav for all the three games has raised eyebrows especially as Axar Patel and Washington Sundar struggled to contain the England batters in the middle overs.
A look at what went wrong for India in the England ODI series:
Bowling Woes: Young Pacers Struggle In England
With Bumrah missing due to an injury, the young Indian pace attack faltered on a flat pitch at Lord’s.
England’s batters dominated right from the start and never took their foot off the pedal in the middle overs. The pace quartet of Arshdeep Singh, Prasidh Krishna, Prince Yadav and Gurnoor Brar combined gave away a staggering 317 runs in 40 overs bowled between them.
In the absence of all-rounder Shivam Dube, India were severely handicapped as they were forced to bowl the full quota of Brar, who leaked 97 runs in his 10-over spell.
The Indian pace attack were taken to the cleaners in the death overs, as they conceded 126 runs in the last 10 overs — the third most conceded by India in the last 10 overs in an ODI.
The last three overs proved to be fatal as Jos Buttler and Joe Root hammered 62 runs — including eight fours and three sixes from the last 18 balls.
‘Gave away a lot of runs in the last three overs. That’s where the game went away from us,’ Gill admitted after the match.
Prasidh Krishna fared well with the ball, picking up five wickets in three games at an economy rate of 5.86 while Bumrah claimed two wickets in as many games at an economy rate of four.
Arshdeep Singh, Gurnoor Brar and Prince Yadav had a series to forget.
Brar took four wickets in three matches but had an expensive economy rate of 7.75 while Prince went for 79 runs in 10 overs in the only game he played.
Fitness Woes
With India playing non-stop cricket across formats through the year, it is proving to be impossible for the team management to field their best playing XI at all times.
Harshit Rana sustained a hamstring tear during the T20I series which ruled him out of the ODI series and that was a major blow, forcing India to include Brar.
K L Rahul was unavailable for the second ODI as he was ill while Washington Sundar and Jasprit Bumrah missed the Lord’s ODI with injuries affecting the team balance.
Gill didn’t hold back as he slammed the fitness standards of some of the players.
‘If you look at the squad, the first squad that we announced, out of that, at least five players did not play this match. So one player gets injured, you try to play a different combination. There are two players, a different combination. But I think after every match, if a player is missing, somewhere we are missing a few tricks.’
‘If we keep the World Cup in mind, we have to play 11 matches in a row. And here the players are not even able to finish 2-3 series of matches. So somewhere it is missing that our players are not able to play matches continuously.’
Middle Order Concerns: Ishan Kishan’s Struggles
Ishan Kishan’s patchy form with the bat can no longer be ignored.
He was not able to deliver with the bat, scoring just a single half-century and a 49 in seven T20Is in England and Ireland.
In the two ODIs he played in England, he managed just 1 and 14.
Rahul is India’s first choice wicket-keeper-batter in ODIs and Kishan will need to make most of the rare opportunities he gets even if he plays as a specialist batter.
Kishan has a lot of pedigree as a batter in ODIs, and holds the record for the fastest double century in ODIs off just 126 balls, against Bangladesh in 2022. But time is fast running out for the left-hander especially with not many games left before the 2027 World Cup.
Hardik’s Absence A Massive Blow
Hardik Pandya’s absence is a big setback for India in ODIs.
When fit, Hardik provides a crucial balance to the team — playing as a frontline pacer and also as an explosive finisher with the bat in the death overs.
Hardik played a major role in India’s Champions Trophy triumph last year, scoring 99 runs including a vital run-a-ball 18 in the final against New Zealand, while claiming four wickets in the tournament at an economy rate of 5.83.
With Hardik absent due to injury, India have been struggling to find a capable replacement, especially when playing overseas in seamer-friendly conditions like England or Australia.
Nitish Kumar Reddy was a close match for Hardik but even he has been sidelined due to regular injuries, while Dube is yet to prove himself in 50 overs cricket, having played just six games since his debut in 2019.
India’s Spin Woes
India’s policy of going in with Axar Patel and Washington Sundar as their two main spinners ahead of a proven match-winner like Kuldeep Yadav is baffling.
Head coach Gautam Gambhir favours all-rounders to provide the team with batting depth, but Kuldeep’s superb record with the ball is hard to ignore.
Kuldeep did well in the Champions Trophy with seven wickets in five matches at an economy rate of 4.79. He boasts of an excellent record in ODIs with 194 wickets in 121 games with an impressive economy rate of just above five.
There is a strange belief in the Indian camp that Kuldeep is not effective on flat wickets especially overseas, hence the reluctance to give him a game in England.