28th June — A Dark Day for Indian Cricket
I don’t even know where to start.
In a single day, the Indian Men’s team got whitewashed 2-0 by Ireland. And then the Women’s team got knocked out of the T20 World Cup 2026. Both. In one day. I genuinely did not see this coming — especially the whitewash. That is just not acceptable, no matter how you look at it.
When we lost the first T20I, I wrote that it was a bad day. But this? This is on a completely different level.
Everyone is blaming the players. Everyone is blaming the management. And look, I get it — but I think we are missing the real picture here.
For the Men’s team, think about what just happened before this series. Two full months of IPL. Flat pitches. Just go and hit. Every single game. That becomes a habit. That becomes muscle memory. So when Ireland bowled on a proper pitch that actually did something — we froze. We couldn’t build partnerships. We couldn’t even chase a small total. That is not a talent problem. That is a conditioning problem. The IPL built that in us, and now we are paying for it.
And the Women’s team — the issue is completely different but equally frustrating.
We basically played the same squad that won the 50-over World Cup in India. In India, three spinners makes total sense. But overseas? You need a fast-bowling all-rounder. Amanjot Kaur is exactly that player — she was so important in the 50-over campaign. But she wasn’t available, and my question is simple: why was no backup ready for her? Championship teams always have a Plan B. We didn’t seem to have one.
And the batting — Smriti didn’t play her natural game. She took too many balls. We scored 170, which honestly could have been 190 or 200 easily, because we bat all the way to number eight. With that much depth, why were we playing safe? Nobody wins a World Cup playing safe. Nobody.
And we know this — because we did the opposite in 2025. The Women in Blue played fearless cricket, beat Australia in the semis, and lifted that World Cup. That team was different. That mindset was different. We need that back.
28th June is now a date Indian cricket fans will carry for a long time. Just like we carry 29th June — the day in 2024 when Rohit Sharma’s team won the T20 World Cup, just like Dhoni did back in 2007. Today we celebrated that anniversary. And on the same day, we got reminded how quickly things can fall apart.
That is sport. Nothing is permanent. What matters now is the response.
The England series is coming. That is the real test. That is where the Men in Blue get to show everyone that Ireland was a bad week — not a sign of things to come.
Come on India. Bounce back like champions.