India failed to adapt to English conditions and was outplayed in all departments by England and Ireland, new skipper Shreyas Iyer said, adding that the experience would only make him a better leader.
Iyer endured a disastrous start to his captaincy after taking over from Suryakumar Yadav following India’s T20 World Cup triumph, as the team suffered a 0-2 defeat to Ireland before losing the T20I series 0-4 to England after the opening game was washed out.
“It’s not hard, honestly,” said Iyer when asked how he dealt with the expectations during the post-match press conference.
“I feel it’s a privilege for me to take over the captaincy. Every individual dreams of captaining for the Indian team and taking on from high. Definitely, I love pressure.
“So, for me to thrive under pressure, to learn from these moments is definitely going to make me better going forward. And that’s my mindset right now. Not thinking much about how people are going to think about this particular series because good and bad is part and parcel of this game.”
Iyer said maintaining a positive mindset is going to be the key.
“Going forward, I need to be extremely positive enough in how I’m going to basically nurture everyone who is playing around me and especially in overseas conditions,” he said.
“We know we are going to play in Australia and many other cities before that. So, the best camaraderie to fit in these conditions is our goal and going forward, that is going to be our plan.”
India suffered a 56-run loss against England in the fifth and final T20 at The Rose Bowl on Saturday and Iyer admitted it just couldn’t adapt to the conditions quickly during the tour.
“…we kept on going from one venue to another and we kept on facing challenges especially in terms of the dimensions, the grounds, the conditions.
“Just to adapt to it as quickly as we could have anticipated that didn’t happen, that was one challenge and the other one is definitely they outplayed us in all departments I would say. So, I think combinations of all these points definitely led to this result,” Iyer said.
The six-match losing streak saw India slip from the No. 1 ranking in T20Is.
“It definitely hurts. But I feel that it’s a great learning for me as a captain and also for other players who have played here for the first time. It’s all about how you turn up for the tournament,” the Mumbaikar said.
“You can’t just have that mindset that you will come to England and you will win the series. You need to work hard, you need to be focused which we were as a team.
“But I personally feel that they played exceptional cricket throughout in all three departments. So, probably the results also went in their favour because they were comprehensive in all three departments.”
On the significance of the world No. 1 ranking, Iyer said: “It matters to everyone. If you’re number one, I feel you’ve been doing something great for the team and also personally. And thinking about the World Cup, it’s two years from now.
“Everything that’s happening around right now is a preparation to the World Cup. So, the earlier and the quicker we learn, it’s beneficial for the team environment and also for the players who are coming in here.”
Iyer also singled out fielding as an area where India needs to improve to prosper as a team.
“See, majority of us we have played together in the IPL. We know our strengths and weaknesses. Just in terms of the fielding, I think it plays a key role especially building that momentum and energy around the team environment…,” he said.
“I think we were definitely dominated by them in that aspect and why I feel fielding is very important is because it basically creates a rhythm in the team in all the matches.
“So, especially in T20 where your fitness demands, you need to be agile, you need to be aware about how the conditions are going to be and especially different outfields and different wickets. So, that’s one department if we are probably the best, if we basically dream to be the best team-wise, we will definitely prosper.”
Asked why Vaibhav Sooryavanshi was dropped, Iyer said the team wanted a right-hander and therefore brought back the experienced Sanju Samson.
“We needed to try the best combination that would be perfect on these conditions. And we also wanted a right-hander to go on with Abhishek (Sharma). So, that was one of the major reasons,” he said.
“I was the only one out of all the left-handers who was a right-hander. We wanted to try a different combination which would be suitable for this particular game.
“And he’s a gun batsman. He has won so many series for us in the past. So, yeah, one of those reasons.”
Published on Jul 12, 2026
