Shreyas Iyer’s 5th Consecutive Twenty20 Loss Becomes An Infamous Indian Record

The men in blue with a new captain Shreyas Iyer has been beaten hollow in Belfast (Ireland) and at three venues in England. Iyer has led in six matches and lost five in a row. The first dig at Chester-lee-Street, Durham did not deliver a result, and England has held its own in Old Trafford, in Robin Hood country Trent Bridge and Bristol. Iyer must be gutted with back to back series loss – and five has now become a record for an Indian captain. Shikhar Dhawan and Mahendra Singh Dhoni have led the men in blue teams that lost four in a row in 2021 and 2009. After looking at the score cards a first question that comes up is “Why is left-hander Tilak Varma batting at No 5 and 6” when his preferred batting number is 3/4 where he has scored 649 runs with 2x100s at 46.36 and a strike rate of 9.12 and 490 runs at 54.44 with a strike rate of 7.72. In the World Cup, Varma batted at No 3 five times, and at No 5/7. He had an overall strike rate of 9.27. India has promoted Ishan Kishan to No 3 from the World Cup match against Zimbabwe in Chennai and since he has scored one half century in 10 innings. Clearly India has not had the best from Varma at No 5 or 6. It’s at No 3 that Varma scored 107* against South Africa at Centurion Park and 120* at the Wanderers in November 2024. His average has dipped batting lower down the order. Tinkering with the batting order has resulted in a downside in the Twenty20 format. India has won 18 matches with Tilak batting at No 3.