Hanuma Vihari slams Indian batters after series defeat in ENG vs IND 2026 T20Is

Indian batter Hanuma Vihari has questioned the performance of Indian batters on the UK tour. India suffered a 0-2 series loss against Ireland when they failed to chase down 183 and 155 against the hosts.

Subsequently, the visitors suffered a 0-4 series loss against England as they were totally dominated in all the three aspects of the game. Vihari said we shouldn’t be fooled by IPL performances as Indian batters had scored a truckload of runs on flat decks and smaller grounds.

Barring Shreyas Iyer, who scored 218 runs, none of the other Indian batters could even score more than 150 runs in the five-match series against England.

“The value of Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli is clearly visible. Would they have gotten out like this to short balls? Don’t be fooled by the IPL. In the IPL, the grounds are smaller, flat wickets, impact player rule, everything is there. When you play an away series, yes, we cannot talk about just one series, but they lost six out of seven games, which is concerning. Definitely, it is an alarm bell,” Hanuma Vihari said in a video on his YouTube channel.

Vihari also questioned the team’s selection of the side, raising doubts if the final selection was done by either Gautam Gambhir-Shreyas Iyer or both.

“If the team management and selectors do not realise now, it will be too late. Shreyas Iyer as T20 captain in last 14 matches has lost 12 games. He returned to the team after two and a half years and was made captain. Was he given the team he asked for? Or was it Gautam Gambhir who gave the team, or did they take the decision together? If a captain is leading the side, I think at least 70-80% the power should be his. If the desired result does not come after that, then you can question it.”

India and England will next take on each other in a three-match ODI series, starting Tuesday at Edgbaston, Birmingham.