India's first major international assignment after their T20 World Cup victory at home earlier in the year turned out to be an unmitigated disaster as England thrashed them 4-0 and also grabbed the World No 1 ranking from the title holders.
India had slipped to a shock 2-0 defeat in the preceding tour of Ireland and were hoping for a better performance against Harry Brook's side.
However, Shreyas Iyer's team arguably got worse as the series went on. In the fifth and final T20 in Southampton, England toyed with India's bowling to post 257-3.
Jos Buttler cracked 131 off 64 balls, while captain Brook hit an unbeaten 95 off 45 deliveries against a listless Indian bowling that was further held back by poor fielding and catching.
In reply, India managed 201-8 to lose by 56 runs. Once again, the double world champions' batters failed to assert themselves in conditions that had some help for the bowlers.
Ishan Kishan and Tilak Varma scored fifties, but no batter managed to put England's bowlers under consistent pressure.
Captain Iyer, who has lost six T20s in a row since taking over from Suryakumar Yadav as India skipper, said his players failed to adapt to different conditions.
“We kept on going from one venue to another, and we kept on facing challenges, especially in terms of the dimensions, the grounds, the conditions, just to adapt to it as quickly as we could have anticipated. That didn't happen,” Iyer said.
“Fielding plays a key role and we need to work on it. We dropped catches which cost us. 220-225 [in the fifth T20] … we might've chased down but not to be.”
The confusion in India's camp became clear when they dropped IPL teen sensation Vaibhav Sooryavanshi for the fifth T20 and brought back Sanju Samson.
The T20 whitewash in Ireland and England is a wake-up call for India who had grown accustomed to home conditions over the last two seasons.
India had become the undisputed champions of Asian pitches, winning successive ICC tournaments on surfaces that suited their style of cricket; Champions Trophy and Asia Cup in Dubai last year and the T20 World Cup at home in 2026.
However, the next set of major tournaments takes place away from the flatter pitches of Asia, where India's current crop of players have yet to prove themselves.
The 2027 ODI World Cup takes place in South Africa, Zimbabwe and Namibia, while the 2028 T20 World Cup will be held in Australia and New Zealand.
Given their abject failure in England, India are unlikely to be the favourites in either of those tournaments.
England on top
England, on the other hand, have put together a remarkable squad of white-ball players who have shown the ability to adapt to all conditions.
Even in the recent T20 World Cup, Jacob Bethell nearly pulled off an incredible win over India in the semi-final with a stunning century. England lost by just seven runs while chasing 254.
England's pace attack is firing on all cylinders, and captain Brook is at the peak of his batting powers across formats. Their rise to the top of the T20 rankings also hints at a possible change of guard in the format.
It also offers English cricket a chance to move on from the debacle in the Test arena, where Ben Stokes abruptly announced his retirement and England suffered a bruising home series defeat to New Zealand right before the India T20s.
Captain Brook said his players deserved to celebrate victory and their rise to the top of the rankings.
“We have got ourselves to World No 1. All boys are delighted and we deserve to celebrate. We have communicated really well in the last 12 months and we've executed things really well,” Brook said.
India next play three ODIs against England starting on Tuesday, where a number of regulars, including Virat Kohli, will return. If they lose that series as well, panic will set in.
