India are suddenly in a heap of trouble after going down to South Africa in their first Super 8s clash.
A clean sheet in the group stage did not take time to get converted into a hole, so deep that India now find themselves in uncomfortable waters. The hosts went down to South Africa in Ahmedabad, on a pitch that was a complete contrast to what the Indians are used to playing on.
Needless to say, the pitch that they were dished out in their opening fixture of the group stage against the United States of America (USA) was a similar wicket. And India were pushed on the backfoot early on. But Suryakumar Yadav made the difference with a blistering 84*.
On the other hand, though the pitch in Ahmedabad was similar, the South Africans did not really give India an inch to get away, securing victory by a massive 76 runs. They manner in which they applied themselves with slower deliveries to not let the Indians off the hook was an interesting ploy.
With the next two games as important as any other for the Indians, the management will have to make some calls before their fixture against Zimbabwe in Chennai. Abhishek Sharma not firing is a huge concern, but that is just the tip of the iceberg. The problem that India are facing is lack of application on wickets that assist slower deliveries.
Here are three changes that the men in Blue need to make to stay alive in the competition with two victories in the next two games against Zimbabwe and the West Indies respectively:
The tactical move that India tried to make by not including Axar Patel in the playing XI against the Proteas backfired big time. The left-handed all-rounder has been one of India’s best all-rounders in the white-ball formats, and not playing him over Washington Sundar was a blunder.
The Delhi Capitals (DC) skipper was injured previously, which was the reason of him being sidelined. But he was available for selection in their first Super 8s fixture, and was benched for Washington. The latter was sent out to bat early in the innings, but could not reap great rewards.
Axar Patel provides a better proposition for the Indians with the left-arm spin to right-handers, which is a greater asset for India as compared to Washington Sundar.
Out of the four games in the tournament so far, Kuldeep Yadav has played just one fixture. However, the Indians need to play the chinaman bowler in the fixtures that are ahead of them. Kuldeep possesses an economy of 6.95 in the shortest format, which is fantastic for a spinner in the middle-overs.
Kuldeep does go for runs in the middle-overs, but the fact is that he gets wickets. In the last fixture that he played in, Kuldeep bagged a solitary wickets in exchange of 14 runs.
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In the opportunities that the wicketkeeper-batter has got, he has not quite helped himself. Sanju Samson played five T20Is for India against New Zealand just before the commencement of the T20 World Cup 2026. However, he was only able to score 46 runs across five matches.
But with way way Tilak Varma has been struggling in the competition so far, India might be tempted to pick him in the XI ahead of the Mumbai Indians (MI) mainstay. While Tilak has gotten off to good starts on four of the five occasions, his strike-rate remains a problem, which might continue too haunt India.
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