T20 World Cup 2026: How South Africa outsmarted a clueless India in Ahmedabad | Cricket News
TimesofIndia.com in Ahmedabad: “We’ve watched other games and it was nice to just have both left-handers, with the ball spinning away. It gives some sort of option where if it’s not turning it can go straight through the gate or if it does hold a little bit like it did, it gives you that hope that we can get a wicket in the first over.“Light giggles broke out in the press conference room when David Miller was asked about the plan to start with Aiden Markram. The South African batter’s response was what most reporters had heard before, in the same hall when the Netherlands’ Bas de Leede responded to a similar query. South Africa took a cue from the Netherlands, who must have been encouraged by how the game against Pakistan unfolded. The arch-rivals would have surely been encouraged by how Namibia’s Gerhard Erasmus bowled in the Delhi fixture.
Different venues, different teams but all kept the approach simple. Bring in an off-spinner early and wait for the Indian batters to make a mistake. And they did. The part-time off-spin bowling from Salman Agha and Markram secured early wickets in their respective matches and Erasmus applied the middle-overs choke, especially with many left-handers to bowl at. Netherlands Aryan Dutt followed the basics and removed both Ishan Kishan and Abhishek Sharma in the powerplay. Obsessed with match-ups, India have been way off the mark in the tactical battles.From poor shot selection and a lack of game awareness to having no Plan B, the T20I World Cup has been a very bumpy ride lacking any careful maneuvering. Panic was palpable in the dugout when Miller and Dewald Brevis put South Africa back on track, from being 20/3, and their calculated takedown of Varun Chakravarthy came as a rude shock to the think-tank. There was no one to apply that choke from the other end because the only bowler, Axar Patel, who was capable of doing that with his sharp game awareness and ability to deliver under pressure, was warming the bench.
Washington Sundar plays a shot during an ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2026 cricket match between India and South Africa. (PTI)
Washington Sundar, still an unproven commodity in the shortest format, was preferred because of the left-handers in the opposition camp. However, the moment two of them – Quinton de Kock and Ryan Rickelton – were dismissed early, the lack of a Plan B exposed India and Miller-Brevis were in the mood to capitalise. The defence mechanism regarding Washington over Axar was fully displayed in post-match pressers, but it lacked the conviction and logic which everyone was looking for.“We spent so much time deliberating about the XI, the last couple of days. And I guess the only way that it sort of didn’t play into our hands is if we did have the ideal start like we did today with getting Quinton and Rickelton out so early. We were kind of looking at matchups more in the middle. And then obviously, someone has to give way. So – do we leave a batter out and get another bowler in, in hindsight, that looks like the right decision? “But obviously, playing it forward and making decisions at the time, we felt we needed Rinku, as an eighth batsman, so to speak. And the decision was based around there. But certainly, it’s not to take anything away from Axar and his leadership and how important he is to the team. But look we face almost every week to try to squeeze 11 places into 15, We’re finding tricky. And we need to make sure we get that spot on for the next two Super 8 games,” said assistant coach Ryan ten Doeschate.
David Miller and Dewald Brevis stitched a 97-run partnership during the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2026 Super 8 Group 1 match against India. (ANI)
India complicated the Playing XI selection more than necessary, and captain Suryakumar Yadav wasn’t proactive enough to regain control while Miller and Brevis were scoring freely. Every bowler can have an off day, and Varun did. However, giving the extra over to Arshdeep Singh during the powerplay — a desperate move to take another wicket — probably backfired, as both he and Jasprit Bumrah were forced to bowl their remaining overs in the death.Had there been more cushion for the slog overs, one Bumrah over could have well made the difference in the middle-overs because the local boy was in a different mood at the Narendra Modi Stadium. His spell of 3/15 was the sole reason South Africa didn’t cross the 200-run mark. However, 187 proved to be far more than India would have liked in that chase and South Africa’s takedown of India’s X-factor, Varun, deserves significant appreciation.“He’s a world-class bowler and he has had huge success, in all different formats that he’s played, all different leagues and, yeah, especially international. So I think for us it was more just, I mean, it’s not like in the past where we’ve been quite tentative but I think it’s just about really making sure that we were on it in terms of if he bowls a bad ball we got to put it away – so a little bit more intent. “And it wasn’t spinning too much tonight, so you can kind of trust the line. And once we felt that, then we felt, OK, we’ve got to take him down, because he is a threat to every team that he does play against. So it was definitely something that we did speak about,” said Miller on their plans for Varun.
Jasprit Bumrah was one bright spark for India on an otherwise poor day against South Africa in the T20 World Cup Super Eight. (AP)
South Africa showed how and why India are very much “beatable.” Their emphatic win, which severely impacted the hosts’ net run rate has increased calls for a lot of soul searching before the next game against Zimbabwe in Chennai on Thursday. Ahead of the South Africa fixture, Surya was categorically asked about Sanju Samson‘s potential place in the Playing XI to add a right-hander to the mix but he chose to laugh the suggestion off. A day later, the conversations around the same thought are getting louder with coach Ryan confirming that the wicketkeeper-batter will remain a talking point leading up to the crucial games.Should you drop the woefully out-of-form Abhishek Sharma? Or a struggling-to-get-going Tilak Varma? The options are on the table and it looks extremely difficult for the two left-handers to retain their place in the XI for the Zimbabwe clash.“They’re all fantastic players. So you stick with the guys who we feel have performed really well over the last 18 months and who are maybe shy of a few runs now? Or do we twist and bring Sanju, who’s also a fantastic player and obviously helps tactically with having a right hander at the top of the order and I’m sure that’ll be a talking point over the next few days going into these two very important games,” explained ten Doeschate.India have some time to make that crucial call but if they stick to the left-is-right approach, it will be a no-brainer to see Sikandar Raza at the top of the bowling mark when India’s openers walk out to bat in Chennai. He, too, would have seen the previous games involving the defending champions and could well have a response similar to Miller at the end of the match. It’s all very predictable and the ball is now in India’s court to surprise their opponents with tactical smarts.
