India suffered another humiliating 56-run defeat in the fifth T20I at the Rose Bowl in Southampton. Jos Buttler and Harry Brook schooled the Indian bowlers in the first innings as England posted 257 runs on the board. Keeper-batter Buttler thrashed the visitors, scoring 131 runs in 64 balls, which is the highest-ever individual score against India in T20Is, while Brook played the perfect role of a second fiddle, adding unbeaten 95 off 45.
Barring Arshdeep Singh and Prasidh Krishna, all the other bowlers conceded over 13 runs per over and that sums up the performance of the bowling unit. Now, since the match was being played on a flat track, Indian batters were expected to show some confidence and prove their mettle, but it was another poor exhibition, resulting in a whitewash.
Sanju Samson, who finally returned to the playing XI, replacing Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, showed some promise early on, but failed to capitalise on the start. He departed while scoring 27 runs off 14 balls. His opening partner, Abhishek Sharma, had departed earlier, scoring only three.ย
Ishan Kishan, batting at three, once again was the star with the bat. The southpaw, who had dropped Harry Brook en route to 93, made 56 runs off 35 balls. He looked in good touch, but India needed him to play at a better strike rate. Captain Shreyas Iyer, like Samson, showed promise but failed to live up to his potential.
As the match went out of Indiaโs reach. Tilak Varma went berserk. The Hyderabad batter made 53 runs off 25 balls. Towards the fag end, India also lost wickets like a house of cards, as they posted 201 runs on the board – which is also their highest in the seven-match tour in the UK.
Changes required in Indian team
After two consecutive series defeats, India will certainly look for changes in the playing XI. Having plenty of all-rounders in the mix canโt be the solution, especially when most of them barely bowl in the IPL. Washington Sundar and Axar Patel are decent options to have, but to expect them to finish games in modern T20I is outlandish. Playing Suryansh Shedge, despite no proven pedigree, is also bizarre.ย
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