India will face a big challenge against South Africa.
India’s issues with spin have become so obvious that every team prepares to attack them with the same strategy, and South Africa, their opponents in the first round of Super 8, are no different. As they gear up for their biggest challenge yet, the Proteas know their battle will mostly be around possibly six LHBs in the Indian batting unit.
ESPNcricinfo reported from Ahmedabad that Aiden Markram spent a considerable time bowling in the nets, where his focus was on targeting rough patches on the practice strips from around the wicket. South Africa’s consultant, Albie Morkel, was tasked to unsettle him, and the former all-rounder used a range of shots like making room, playing inside-out, stepping down the track, and hitting good-length deliveries down the ground.
This is precisely what Markram will get when Indian batters come all guns blazing on Sunday, and his plan to use around the wicket angle has merit. India’s LHBs have struck at a mere 118.44 and lost eight wickets in 103 deliveries against spinners bowling from around the wicket at the T20 World Cup 2026.
Later, as India Today revealed, Keshav Maharaj came into the nets with the idea of trying to deliver with a round-arm before some wide yorkers with a flatter trajectory. Even Tristan Stubbs rolled over his arms and will be up to give a few overs should the need arise.
India are well aware of their shortcomings, and their batting session last evening mostly focused on tackling spin. Apart from several off-spinners, Varun Chakravarthy and Washington Sundar also bowled extensively to the southpaws – Tilak Varma came first, followed by Ishan Kishan and Rinku Singh, before others joined the bandwagon.
Abhishek Sharma, who has yet to open his account at the T20 World Cup 2026, was the last batter to hit the nets, and his focus was on playing straight when looking to loft. He was dismissed on a cross-batted shot against Aryan Dutt in the Netherlands game.
He also bowled to India’s RHBs Suryakumar Yadav and Hardik Pandya on a practice strip to get into the bowling groove, having bowled only a solitary over for 10 runs in the tournament. The Indian captain looked in sublime touch, playing his trademark ‘Supla’ shot multiple times against the premium spinner Varun Chakravarthy.
Interestingly, Rinku Singh also had a short bowling session, during which he delivered round-arm spin with a lower release and a flatter trajectory, with Gautam Gambhir monitoring it closely. Earlier, Namibian captain Gerhard Erasmus had troubled India with the same variation in Delhi.
The same India Today report revealed that India had an extended coaching session under the ring of fire in Ahmedabad. Unlike the traditional floodlights in most other venues, the Narendra Modi Stadium has a 360-degree LED ring light setup, which makes catching arduous in night games.
Once the ball goes high in the sky, it disappears momentarily, giving the fielders less time to react. Additionally, India have been among the worst-catching sides in the competition, with as many as nine dropped chances – the second-most after Ireland – including four each against Pakistan and Netherlands.
“Unfortunately, no catch is an easy catch, and the boys are putting the yards in and catching a lot of balls. But that’s definitely one of our key focus points, to really even go for those 50-50 ones, because we know how that can swing and break the momentum of a batting innings,” Morne Morkel said on India’s fielding.
The ring of fire will exacerbate their case, something they encountered in Dubai during the Asia Cup 2025 as well. Hence, Indian fielders spent ample time getting their catching right, and the session was long and repetitive.
Noticeably, Sanju Samson batted for an extended period in the nets, hitting the likes of Arshdeep Singh and Shivam Dube, and looked in great touch. It was unusual because he hadn’t batted this long in previous sessions, hinting that India might be looking for a change in the top three.
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Samson has played only one game in the tournament so far, against Namibia, when Abhishek Sharma was unavailable due to a stomach infection. However, recent struggles against off-spinners could force India to break an all-LHB top three by bringing in another RHB at the top.
If Samson plays, Tilak Varma, who has struggled the most against spinners so far, will likely sit out, and Kishan might go down to No.3. India have previously opened with Samson and Abhishek, with the duo together scoring 385 runs at a run rate of 9.95 in 18 innings.
Samson has a strike rate of 129.72 and lost his wicket once in 37 balls against off-spinners since 2025. While not very impressive, he will bring better skills against spin in general and act as an LHB-splitter, even though chucking Tilak at this stage won’t be an ideal move.
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