New Delhi, Jul 13: The recent debacle of Team India in the T20Is — both against Ireland and England — has raised many eyebrows putting head coach Gautam Gambhir and nely-appointed skipper Shreyas Iyer.

The Men in Blue suffered back‑to‑back series defeats — 0‑2 against Ireland and 0‑4 against England — raising serious questions about the squad’s preparation and adaptability in overseas conditions.

What makes the collapse even more alarming is that a team which dominated T20I cricket for over three years, winning back‑to‑back ICC T20 World Cups in 2024 and 2026, failed to secure a single victory in six matches, excluding the washout game.

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While criticism has mounted against the leadership duo — Gambhir and Shreyas, former India cricketer and analyst Sanjay Manjrekar has cautioned against taking the “easy” route of removing the captain or coach. Instead, he urged the BCCI to probe deeper into the structural flaws that led to this debacle.

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“The easiest thing to do for India would be to sack Gautam Gambhir, sack the captain, sack some of the players who didn’t perform well in Ireland and England. That would be the easy thing to do,” Manjrekar stated in a video on his Instagram page.

“The right thing to do would be to identify the main reason for India’s setback. And the main reason is that these T20 matches were played in Ireland and England, in overseas conditions,” he added.

Manjrekar argued that India’s batters were poorly prepared for such conditions because selectors relied heavily on Indian Premier League (IPL) performances, staged in batting‑friendly environments.

“Our batters and our team were poorly prepared for these conditions. Why? Because the selectors actually picked all these players based on their IPL performances,” he pointed out.

He went on to criticize the IPL’s extreme batting‑friendly pitches, which he claimed “put heavy makeup on Indian batters” and fail to reveal who can succeed in tougher environments.

“The batting conditions in IPL are the easiest I've ever seen in my life. And that’s why it flatters to deceive,” he said, stressing that selectors must prioritize players proven in challenging conditions, citing Shubman Gill as an example.

In a sharp remark, Manjrekar suggested that instead of targeting Gambhir or Iyer, the BCCI should hold accountable those who advised making IPL conditions excessively batting‑friendly for commercial popularity.

“Go deeper and actually sack those guys who've been advising the BCCI that (batting‑friendly conditions) to make IPL more popular and more commercially viable,” he stated.

India’s defeats have exposed glaring weaknesses in preparation and adaptability, sparking a debate that goes beyond leadership.