Former player Deep Dasgupta is backing India in T20Is despite losing to Ireland and England. The Men in Blue returned to form against Zimbabwe, winning 3-0, but the experts are still doubtful about the team’s strength and depth.

India have even fielded the second-string squad in the shortest format and won bilateral assignments. However, the sub-continent nation struggled without Jasprit Bumrah and Hardik Pandya against the Irish and English teams. The visitors remained winless in seven matches, with players failing to adapt to the test conditions. The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) will review the performances of the players in the near future.

Despite the setbacks, Deep Dasgupta still believes that India have enough players to form two separate T20I teams.

“We have to figure out the right combination in the next one and a half years. We can still make two T20I teams, and both will be equally good. We have 30 quality players, but the challenge would be to bring it down to 15. We have the players,” Deep Dasgupta said.

India will compete against Bangladesh, Afghanistan, West Indies, New Zealand and Sri Lanka in the T20I bilateral assignments under Shreyas Iyer’s captaincy.

“We are not sure about the best playing XI”: Deep Dasgupta highlights the main concern after two defeats

Deep Dasgupta feels India can achieve success if the selectors and the team management find the best squad and choose the right starting XI.

“Nothing has changed, and the current T20I team is a work in progress. Several people have asked about the performances of the players and the team’s results. I tell them that in white-ball formats, especially in T20Is, we don’t know about our best playing XI or even the best 15. We are not sure about the combinations,” he said.

India have been impacted by injuries to some of the leading players. Hardik Pandya and Nitish Kumar Reddy were not available while Harshit Rana and Varun Chakravarthy were ruled out midway through the series.