India captain Shreyas Iyer admitted his side's batting display was "atrocious" and "unacceptable" after England handed the visitors a crushing 125-run defeat in the third T20I at Nottingham.

The defeat has deepened India's struggles in the shortest format despite the team having only recently completed a dominant campaign to retain the T20 World Cup title on home soil. Under newly appointed skipper Iyer, India are still searching for their first T20I victory.

Having already suffered a surprise 2-0 series whitewash against Ireland, India now trail England 2-0 in the five-match series after the opening game was washed out by rain. With only two matches remaining, the visitors can now do no better than level the contest.

The poor run has also intensified scrutiny over India's transition following the removal of T20 World Cup-winning captain Suryakumar Yadav, who also lost his place in the side after a dip in batting form.

'We need to go back to the drawing board'

Reflecting on the defeat, Shreyas Iyer said the team must honestly accept what had gone wrong before turning its attention to the remaining matches.

"I think it was atrocious. I couldn't use a better word, honestly. Losing by such a big margin is definitely not acceptable. First things first, I feel that we need to accept this loss and completely go back to the drawing board and see what we did wrong."

He also felt England's total of 201 was not necessarily beyond reach given the nature of the surface.

"Looking at the wicket, I don't think that it was a 200-score wicket, first of all, to start with. But other than that, the way we batted, we lost four (five) wickets in the powerplay. I think that itself created the momentum, and I definitely feel that we lost over there. So, we have got to go back to the drawing board."

Focus shifts to fourth T20I

Despite the heavy defeat, he urged his players to move on quickly before the fourth T20I, which is scheduled to be played on 9 July.

He said there was little value in dwelling on the result and stressed that every player needed to focus on making an impact. He also pointed out that successful chases of 200 or more require a clear approach and the right pace throughout the innings.

England recover strongly after middle-order wobble

Earlier, England posted 201/7 after India chose to bowl first.

Openers Phil Salt and Jos Buttler gave the hosts an explosive beginning, adding 43 runs for the opening wicket. Buttler scored 36 from 21 balls, striking four boundaries and two sixes before fast bowler Prince Yadav dismissed him.

India fought back well through Prince and Harshit Rana, reducing England to 111/4 after 12 overs.

However, Salt continued to anchor the innings with an excellent 70 from 44 deliveries, including six fours and three sixes. He shared a valuable 47-run stand with Sam Curran, who remained unbeaten on 41 from 24 balls with four boundaries. Will Jacks also chipped in with a quick 14 from seven balls, hitting two sixes, as England finished on 201/7.

Prince returned figures of 2/30, while Harshit claimed 2/40. Axar Patel also picked up one wicket.

Archer and Tongue rip through India's batting

India's reply began brightly as Abhishek Sharma and Vaibhav Sooryavanshi played attacking strokes early in the chase.

Abhishek made 10 from seven balls with a six, while Vaibhav struck 13 from just five deliveries, including two sixes. Their promising start ended quickly after Josh Tongue and Jofra Archer removed both batters, leaving India at 29/2 in only 2.4 overs.

The collapse gathered pace as India slumped to 52/5 before the end of the powerplay and never recovered.

The innings ended at 76 all out in 11.4 overs. Ishan Kishan scored 13, while Axar Patel contributed 10, making them the only other Indian batters to reach double figures.

Tongue starred with figures of 4/28, Archer claimed 3/29, and leg-spinner Adil Rashid finished with two wickets as England sealed a comprehensive victory.

Archer was named Player of the Match for his decisive spell.

Milestones for Rashid and Archer

The match also brought significant personal milestones for England's bowlers.

With two wickets, Adil Rashid increased his international tally to 468 wickets, moving past former England fast bowler Darren Gough's 466 to become his country's fourth-highest international wicket-taker.

Rashid also reached 166 T20I wickets, overtaking New Zealand's Ish Sodhi, who has 165, to become the second-highest wicket-taker in the format. Afghanistan's Rashid Khan remains at the top with 193 wickets.

Archer's three-wicket haul took his international tally to 197 wickets, leaving him just three short of the 200-wicket milestone for England.

Unwanted records for India

The defeat was India's biggest loss by runs in T20 international cricket.

It also extended the team's longest winless run in T20Is. Since lifting the T20 World Cup earlier this year, India have lost four matches, while one game ended without a result.

India's total of 76 was also their second-lowest all-out score in T20Is, behind the 74 they managed against Australia in 2008.

With agency inputs