India face turmoil after post-World Cup losses, injuries and selection uncertainty
India’s senior men’s cricket team has slid from the high of defending the T20 World Cup in Ahmedabad five months ago to a period of turmoil marked by unexpected series defeats, mounting injuries and off-field speculation as of August 7, 2026.
India secured back-to-back victories to defend their T20 World Cup crown in Ahmedabad, a campaign that ended with team totals above 250 in both the semifinals and the final; the subsequent Indian Premier League and the rise of 15-year-old Vaibhav Sooryavanshi shifted attention away from that triumph. The post-IPL schedule proved unforgiving: India, at full strength and under new captain Shreyas Iyer after Suryakumar Yadav was removed from the leadership role, lost 2-0 to Ireland in a shock defeat where the home side won the second match by one run. England then beat India 4-0 (the first match was washed out) with Harry Brook prominent, while a 3-0 sweep in Zimbabwe under stand-in head coach V.V.S. Laxman provided the only recent respite.
Injury withdrawals have compounded the on-field problems: Washington Sundar, Nitish Kumar and Harshit Rana were ruled out of the two-Test tour of Sri Lanka well before the selection meeting chaired by Ajit Agarkar. Jasprit Bumrah had been named in the squad subject to clearing a fitness test at the Centre of Excellence in Bengaluru, a caveat that also applied to left-hander Sai Sudharsan; Bumrah has since been ruled out after sustaining an impact injury to his left knee while fielding in the second One-Day International against England in Cardiff about three weeks ago. The article reports Bumrah as a decisive figure whose absence places greater responsibility on the remaining bowlers.
Speculation has grown around the selection committee after reports that Ajit Agarkar indicated to the Board of Control for Cricket in India in February a wish to be relieved of his duties in September, despite reportedly having a couple of years remaining of the permissible five-year term. Agarkar became chairman of the senior selection panel in mid-2023; his tenure has included two T20 World Cup trophy campaigns and an unbeaten run through the draw at the Champions Trophy in Dubai in March 2005, while Test setbacks at home — 0-3 versus New Zealand in October-November 2024 and 0-2 against South Africa in November last year — are also recorded.
V.V.S. Laxman’s name has emerged in conversations about a possible successor to Agarkar, with the piece noting Laxman has twice served as a stand-in coach — first for Rahul Dravid and more recently for Gautam Gambhir — and that he has been effective in that temporary capacity. The article recounts that Laxman was considered for the national coaching role more than two years ago, that he has previously spent extended time away from home, and that his past interventions with the team during crises have shaped his reputation.
Team cohesion and messaging are described as strained, with some senior players allegedly expressing insecurity over mixed signals from the regular think-tank. The report adds that assistant coach Ryan ten Doeschate, who joined when Gambhir took over nearly two years ago, and long-serving fielding coach T. Dileep are now surplus to requirements, a development that will affect the leadership group when the Sri Lanka tour begins.
Shubman Gill’s captaincy and form are placed under scrutiny in the piece: Gill scored 754 runs on his maiden Test captaincy run in England and had led from the front, but he has not played a Test in Sri Lanka and few in the current squad have experience there given that India’s last five-day outing in the country was in 2017. The article also notes Gill led in only one of two Tests against South Africa, missing the Guwahati match with a neck injury, and records that Bumrah played three of five Tests in England last summer.
India begin their Sri Lanka tour on Friday with a three-day First Class fixture, and the squad will proceed without assistant coach Ryan ten Doeschate and fielding coach T. Dileep in place for that start.
