Former Indian cricketers and national selectors have heavily criticized the Indian Premier League's structural environment following the national team's consecutive T20 International series defeats against Ireland and England in July 2026.
The team, led by new captain Shreyas Iyer, lost 0-2 to Ireland and then 0-4 to England.
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Former selectors Salil Ankola and Surendra Bhave stated that shorter boundaries and flat pitches in the franchise tournament create false confidence among Indian batters when playing in challenging overseas conditions.
Manjrekar Calls for Selection Overhaul
Former India batter Sanjay Manjrekar said the Board of Control for Cricket in India should address the root cause rather than penalize the team management.
“The easiest thing to do for India would be to sack Gautam Gambhir, sack the captain, sack some of the players who didn't perform well in Ireland and England.
That would be the easy thing to do.
The right thing to do would be to identify the main reason for India's setback,” Manjrekar told Hindustan Times.
He argued that players were selected based on IPL performances, which do not reflect overseas conditions.
On Instagram, Manjrekar criticized the IPL's batting environment, calling it “the easiest batting condition I've ever seen in my life.”
“The IPL puts a very heavy makeup on Indian batters, all batters. They've made it the easiest batting condition.
And that is why it flatters to be seen,” he wrote.
Writing on X, Manjrekar urged selectors to evaluate players independently of IPL statistics ahead of tours to Zimbabwe and New Zealand.
