India suffered yet another defeat under the captaincy of Shreyas Iyer as they lost the third T20I against England by 125 runs at Trent Bridge in Nottingham. India opted to bowl first after winning the toss and England managed to score 201/7 in the first innings. Chasing the target, India were bowled out for 72 in less than 12 overs. The comprehensive defeat handed England a 2-0 lead in the series and extended India's poor run under Iyer. In addition, the side is still searching for its first win since the 2026 T20 World Cup, having lost four of its last five matches while the other ended in a no result.
Speaking at the post match presentation, Indian captain Shreyas Iyer called the defeat awful. He said, “It was atrocious, losing by that margin is not acceptable. First things first, we have to accept the loss and go back to drawing board. I don't think it was a 200 wicket. We lost four wickets in the powerplay and that itself pushed us back. You can plan a lot but once you come to the ground you need to adapt. Try to figure out what is the right length and I felt the hard length was tough and we didn't execute. We need to comeback strong and not dwell too much about the past. Every individual has to think and see how they can contribute to the team”.
Shreyas Iyer's Struggles as India captain
Shreyas Iyer was handed the Indian T20I captaincy after the end of the 2026 T20 World Cup. He had built a reputation having led Punjab Kings in the IPL over the last few seasons. However, when Shreyas Iyer was named as the captain of the Indian T20I side he was yet to cement his spot in the team.
He was making a comeback and took over from Suryakumar Yadav who had never lost a T20I series in his captaincy tenure and had just won the 2026 WT20 title.Taking charge of a side that had enjoyed sustained success over the last three years, Iyer has endured a difficult start to his captaincy stint.
The 32-year-old has captained India in 5 T20I matches and lost four of them with the other one ending in a no result. He has also lost ten out of the previous 12 matches as captain. India are on the brink of yet another series defeat and Iyer has had the worst possible start to his captaincy career for India.
Number of matches taken by Indian Captains to lose 4 matches in T20I
5 matches - Shreyas Iyer*
9 matches - Virat Kohli
12 matches - MS Dhoni
13 matches - Hardik Pandya
16 matches - Rohit Sharma
20 matches - Suryakumar Yadav
Longest winless sequences for India in T20Is
5* - June 2026 - July 2026 (4 defeats, 1 NR)
4 - June 2009 - December 2009 (4 defeats)
4 - July 2021 - October 2021 (4 defeats)
The defeat in the third match is another setback for Shreyas Iyer, whose start as India's T20I captain has come under increasing scrutiny. With two matches still left in the series, India have an opportunity to salvage some pride, while Iyer will be hoping to register his first series win and silence some of the growing criticism regarding some of the tactics and selections.
