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India national cricket team T20I captain Shreyas Iyer left no stone unturned and described the record defeat to the England national cricket team in the third game of the five-match series as ‘atrocious’.
Speaking to Eoin Morgan after India’s record 125-run defeat to England, Shreyas Iyer broke character and openly expressed his disappointment at his team’s inability to perform well in a must-win encounter at Trent Bridge in Nottingham. Meanwhile, Shreyas Iyer has joined Rohit Sharma and MS Dhoni with amazing toss records in T20Is.
India’s biggest T20I defeat under new regime continues worrying trend
India suffered their biggest defeat in T20I cricket after England suffered a crushing 125-run defeat in the third T20I at Trent Bridge. Chasing a challenging target of 202, the visitors were all out for just 76 runs in 11.4 overs as the batting line-up collapsed in front of Jofra Archer and Josh Tongue.
The defeat not only handed England a 2-0 lead in the five-match series, but also registered India’s name in an unwanted record book. The 125-run margin overtook their previous biggest T20I defeat, which was an 80-run loss to New Zealand in Wellington in 2019. More importantly, four of India’s five biggest defeats by runs in T20Is have now come since December 2025, highlighting an alarming pattern.
India’s biggest defeats by runs in T20Is now read: 125 runs against England at Trent Bridge (2026), 80 runs against New Zealand at Wellington (2019), 76 runs against South Africa at Ahmedabad (2026), 51 runs against South Africa at Mullanpur (2025), and 50 runs against New Zealand at Visakhapatnam (2026).
What makes the latest loss particularly worrying is the manner of the collapse. India chose to field first but failed to stop England, losing to 201/7 despite early successes. In reply, wickets kept falling at regular intervals, with only Vaibhav Suryavanshi (13), Ishan Kishan (13) and Abhishek Sharma (10) reaching double figures.
The middle order offered little resistance as India lost all ten wickets for just 76 runs, raising fresh questions over the team’s consistency against top quality pace attacks and its ability to recover from early setbacks.
Why did Shreyas Iyer call India’s T20I defeat to England ‘atrocious’?
When Shreyas Iyer came for the post-match presentation ceremony, former England captain Eoin Morgan asked him how he would assess the team’s performance.
Responding to this, Shreyas Iyer termed the defeat as ‘atrocious’ and said that losing by a huge margin was not acceptable at all.
The India national cricket team captain said, “I think it was atrocious. Honestly, I can’t use a better word than that. Losing by such a huge margin is definitely not acceptable. First of all, I think we have to accept this defeat and completely go back to the drawing board and see what we did wrong. Looking at the wicket, I don’t think, first of all, it was 200 wickets.”
“But apart from that, the way we batted, we lost four (five) wickets in the powerplay. I think that’s what created the momentum, and definitely I think we lost there. So, we have to go back to the drawing board.”
‘Atrocious’ is an adjective used to describe something that is either exceptionally poor in quality or shockingly cruel and evil. Shreyas Iyer described India’s T20I defeat at the hands of England as ‘atrocious’ as they were bundled out on a low score while chasing a target that initially seemed within their reach and suffered their biggest defeat in the format just months after lifting the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2026 trophy under former captain Suryakumar Yadav.
I think when you are chasing 200 runs you have to pace your innings- Shreyas Iyer
When asked about India’s plans in the game, Shreyas Iyer said that they had planned, but after entering the field, it was all about execution, in which they failed miserably. He said:
“I think once you are in the team meeting you can make a lot of plans, but once you get on the field, you have to adapt as quickly as possible and try to figure out what length is important to bowl on a particular wicket.
“That kind of (pitches) today, the tough lengths were helping the bowlers a lot. I think we didn’t execute that much. And even in our batting, I think when you are chasing 200, you need to pace your innings. You have to have a set pattern as to how you are going to carry that innings. So, we lagged a little bit in that case. So definitely, the execution was terrible.”
The Indian captain was also not shy in admitting that he played ‘terrible cricket’ but he is hopeful of a strong comeback in the upcoming matches.
“Absolutely. As you said, it’s a great opportunity to come back stronger. Don’t think too much about what’s happened in the past. We’ve definitely played terrible cricket, but there’s been a lot to learn from as well. The players have to start thinking about how to fundamentally make an impact on the team or how to build that momentum.”
“So obviously each individual has to think for themselves and see how they can win matches and take that kind of responsibility.”
Notably, India cannot win the series now as they are currently trailing 0-2 with two matches remaining.