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The Indian national cricket team’s disappointing T20 performance under new captain Shreyas Iyer hit a new low after a nine-wicket defeat against the England national cricket team in the fourth match in Bristol, giving the hosts an unassailable 3-0 lead in the five-match series.
While Harry Brook and Phil Salt made light work of the 159-run target, the result also created a series of unwanted records for Shreyas Iyer’s fledgling Indian team.
Here are nine unwanted records that were created after India’s latest defeat.
1. Shreyas Iyer became the first Indian captain to lose five consecutive T20 matches
Shreyas Iyer etched his name in the record books for all the wrong reasons by becoming the first Indian captain to suffer five consecutive defeats in T20I cricket.
India has achieved remarkable success over the years under different captains, making such losing streaks extremely rare. Before Iyer, no Indian captain had started his T20I captaincy with five consecutive defeats.
2. Shreyas Iyer reaches five T20I defeats faster than any previous Indian captain
The Bristol defeat also meant that Iyer became the fastest Indian captain to register five T20I defeats. He needed only six matches to reach that unwanted milestone.
Comparatively, it took Virat Kohli 12 matches to lose five T20 matches as captain, MS Dhoni 15, Hardik Pandya 16, while both Rohit Sharma and Suryakumar Yadav reached the figure after only 31 matches. Notably, it took almost two years for Suryakumar to lose five T20 matches, while Iyer reached the same figure in barely two weeks.
3. India lost consecutive bilateral T20I series for the first time since 2019
India’s defeats against Ireland and England marked their first consecutive bilateral T20 series defeat in more than seven years.
The previous instance came in 2019, when India lost 2-1 in New Zealand before suffering a 2-0 home defeat against Australia. Since then, India have established themselves as one of the strongest T20I teams in world cricket, making this sequence particularly unusual.
4. England achieved their first bilateral T20I series win over India
England also achieved a historic achievement by defeating India for the first time in a bilateral T20 series of two or more matches.
Prior to this series, India had won five of the last six bilateral T20I encounters between the two sides, while the remaining series in 2012 ended in draws. England finally broke that streak with a brilliant performance at home.
5. India’s recent bilateral dominance over England ends
This defeat was significant beyond the T20I. India’s last bilateral series defeat against England in any format came during the 2018 tour, when they lost the ODI series 2–1 and the Test series 4–1.
Since then, India enjoyed consistent success against England, winning eight of their next ten bilateral series, while the remaining two Test series in England ended 2–2. That impressive run has now come to an end.
6. Bristol was no longer a happy hunting ground for India
Before the fourth T20I, India had never lost an international match in Bristol. They had won three of their four ODIs at that venue, while the other drew no result, and had also won their only previous T20I there.
England’s comprehensive win ended India’s unbeaten international record on county grounds.
7. England gave India one of the biggest defeats in T20 with the ball remaining
England achieved the target of 159 runs with 37 balls to spare, making it India’s third biggest defeat in T20Is with balls to spare.
Only Australia’s win by 52 balls in Melbourne in 2008 and by 40 balls at the same venue in 2025 are higher. Bristol’s defeat also eclipsed New Zealand and Sri Lanka’s 33-ball wins over India in 2021.
8. This became India’s biggest defeat while defending a score of more than 150 in T20Is
The Bristol defeat also set another unwanted record in a specific context. India had never before lost a T20 match while defending a target of 150 or more with 37 balls to spare.
Their previous worst defeats in such matches were against England in the 2022 T20 World Cup semi-final in Adelaide, where they lost after defending 169 runs with 24 balls to spare, and against Pakistan in Dubai during the 2021 T20 World Cup, where they lost 152 with 13 balls to spare.
9. England end another long-running T20I trend against India
India have made an excellent record in bilateral T20I cricket over the last few years. Before this difficult phase, they had won 11 of their last 12 bilateral T20I series, with only a 1-1 drawn series against South Africa in December 2023 puncturing a near-perfect performance.
Consecutive defeats to Ireland and England have ended that remarkable consistency and highlighted the challenges facing India’s transition under a new leadership group.
The series defeat does not define Shreyas Iyer or India’s long-term future, especially with several key players absent and a young team still finding its feet. However, the number of unwanted records set during the England tour underlines the scale of the failure.
