Kamal Ghorui
India endured a nightmare start to their Super 8 campaign in the T20 World Cup as South Africa handed them a crushing 76-run defeat at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad on Sunday night. Chasing 187/7, the hosts’ batting unit collapsed without offering much resistance, turning what was a crucial fixture into a one-sided contest.The slide began immediately when Ishan Kishan was dismissed for a duck in the opening over. From there, the innings never stabilised. Abhishek Sharma, Tilak Varma, Suryakumar Yadav, Hardik Pandya, Rinku Singh, Shivam Dube and Washington Sundar all failed to make meaningful contributions. Dube top-scored with 42 but consumed 37 deliveries, underlining India’s struggle to keep pace with the required rate. It was, by all accounts, a deeply disappointing display.
Former India captain Sunil Gavaskar criticised the batting approach, pointing to the contrast with how South Africa rebuilt their innings.“Yes, if you look at the way Dewald Brevis and David Miller rebuilt the South African innings, they played a lot more shots in the ‘V’, especially when the short ball was used. They adjusted really well. They realised the ball wasn’t coming onto the bat as quickly as expected — it was holding up slightly in the surface. Having seen how they constructed their innings and built that partnership, that was the kind of approach that was needed, rather than simply throwing the bat at just about everything,” Gavaskar told Star Sports after the match.South Africa themselves had been under pressure at 20/3 before Miller and Brevis steadied the ship. After settling in, the pair shifted gears and targeted the Indian attack. Varun Chakaravarthy (1/47) bore the brunt, while Hardik Pandya (0/45) and Shivam Dube (1/32 in 2 overs) also proved expensive.Proteas great Shaun Pollock echoed Gavaskar’s assessment, stressing India’s inability to adjust to the conditions.“I don’t think there was enough adaptability from India’s perspective. South Africa had already played three matches on this ground, so they had a very good understanding of how the surface behaved. They struggled in the first four or five overs and had to adjust, and it was only once the Brevis–Miller partnership got going that they were able to play their shots more freely,” he said.The heavy defeat has left India’s net run rate at -3.800, significantly complicating their path to the semi-finals. They must now defeat Zimbabwe and the West Indies, and do so convincingly, to revive their chances. Group 1 remains wide open, but the pressure is mounting on Suryakumar Yadav’s side.
