34 wins in last 37 T20Is underline India’s supremacy, yet issues with batting order, Bumrah’s usage, SKY’s form and fielding could haunt them beyond Asia.
India’s Unstoppable Run
India’s T20 team has been on a tear, setting the pace for the rest of the cricketing world with their consistency and firepower. They have brushed aside challenges with an ease that makes their record look almost unreal.
Still, behind the dominant scorecards, this Asia Cup has revealed little flaws that show the machine can stutter just enough to remind everyone they are not flawless. With their comfortable win over Bangladesh, they have now reached yet another Asia Cup final, extending a streak that looks staggering in numbers. Out of their last 37 T20 internationals, India have won 34. Only twice did margins dip below 10 runs, and just once did they have to take a chase into the last over. That kind of consistency is rare in this unpredictable format, and it reflects both depth of resources and mental clarity in pressure moments. Yet the current Asia Cup has quietly highlighted a few cracks that cannot be ignored.
Bumrah’s Usage Under the Scanner
Few things have puzzled fans more than the way Jasprit Bumrah has been handled in this tournament. Instead of saving him for phases where his impact is historically most decisive, the management has repeatedly handed him three overs in the powerplay. Bumrah is effective in all situations, but his reputation has been built on breaking partnerships in the middle overs and strangling batters in the death. Persisting with this pattern when India are fielding just one specialist pacer leaves them exposed in the final overs, a phase where games can flip within minutes.
What makes this even harder to digest is that captain Suryakumar Yadav has had a front-row seat to Bumrah’s ideal usage at Mumbai Indians. Season after season, the IPL franchise treated him as their trump card for all phases but always kept bullets in the chamber for the finish. That tactical clarity played a massive role in MI’s success. Yet here, with SKY himself leading India, the plan seems to go against the very lessons he witnessed for years. India have been fortunate that none of their games have reached tense death-over scenarios, but come the final or the World Cup next year, this could be a gamble too dangerous to take.
Gill’s Return and a Shaken Order
Shubman Gill’s inclusion has been one of the bright spots of the Asia Cup. His fluency has given India solid starts and kept the scoreboard moving. But this has come with a side effect. The established top order of Abhishek Sharma, Sanju Samson, Tilak Varma and Suryakumar Yadav has been disrupted, leaving several batters unsettled.
Samson found himself batting as low as No. 8 in the last game, a placement that simply did not make sense. Tilak too has looked out of rhythm, forced to adjust roles game by game. Gill’s form is a plus, but the musical chairs with the order has left others struggling to find rhythm. For a team that thrived on clarity of roles in their dominant run, this tinkering could have longer-term consequences.
Suryakumar’s Form Worries
The elephant in the room remains Suryakumar Yadav’s form. As captain and as a batter once hailed as the world’s most destructive in T20s, his recent returns have been modest at best. Across his last 12 innings, he has managed only 113 runs, averaging 11.3 with a strike rate of just 105.
Those numbers are alarming for someone who set unprecedented standards over the last three years. His lean patch feels heavier because of the expectations he carries. India have won games without his contributions, but in crunch matches, they cannot afford their most inventive batter to remain stuck in this rut.
Abhishek on Fire, Kuldeep Unplayable
Amid all the debates, there is no denying the bright sparks. Abhishek Sharma has turned into India’s go-to powerplay hitter, smashing attacks into disarray inside the first six overs. His fearless strokeplay sets the platform that carries India through leaner middle overs.
At the other end of the spectrum, Kuldeep Yadav has been India’s silent assassin. Whenever batters think they have a grip, he rips the game back with wickets in bunches. His strike rate, average and economy remain unmatched among Test-playing nations’ bowlers with 50 or more wickets, and his knack of striking in clusters has bailed India out whenever opposition batters threatened to build momentum. This duo, one exploding at the start and the other suffocating in the middle, has been India’s defining edge in this campaign.
Fielding Woes and Added Pressure
One area that has let India down is the fielding. Across their last two matches, nine catches have gone down, numbers that sit awkwardly next to their otherwise polished dominance. Catches win matches, and while their bowling depth has bailed them out so far, such lapses could become decisive in closer contests.
To make matters trickier, the team has had to shoulder political weight off the field as well. Suryakumar’s comment brushing aside the India-Pakistan rivalry stirred needless noise. It means the team now carries extra weight. If they win, it will be dismissed as expected, but if they lose, the backlash could be overwhelming.
What the Campaign Really Shows
In truth, both Pakistan and Bangladesh have had windows to push India harder in this Asia Cup. Each side found moments where the game could have tilted their way, but neither managed to sustain the pressure. That in itself speaks volumes about India’s temperament and depth. They have repeatedly found ways to wriggle out of tricky passages and reassert control. But in next year T20 World Cup, dynamics could change. Conditions will favor different styles, and stronger non-Asian sides will not let India off the hook so easily. For all their success, this tournament has underlined the need for a clearer blueprint, especially around batting order stability, Bumrah’s deployment and solving the Suryakumar puzzle. If those answers arrive, India’s aura of dominance may not just continue but grow stronger on the biggest stage.