Team India’s thrashing 76-run defeat in the T20 World Cup 2026 Super 8 match against South Africa has become a talking point. The Men in Blue’s unbeaten run in the group stage was brought to a halt by the Proteas in front of nearly 100,000 spectators at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad on Sunday, February 22.
India’s bowling in the middle overs and batting collapse were key factors behind the defeat. The 76-run loss to the Proteas has put the defending champions’ semifinal chances in jeopardy as their net run rate (NRR) currently stands at -3.888, and they are currently at the bottom of the Group 1 table.
The negative NRR means India will now need not just wins but dominant performances in their remaining Super 8 matches to keep their semifinal hopes alive. Following a defeat to South Africa, Team India will face Zimbabwe at the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai on Thursday, February 26, followed by a crucial clash against the West Indies at the Eden Gardens Stadium in Kolkata on Sunday, March 1.
Suryakumar Yadav-led side was heavily criticised for the batting failures in an 188-run chase as Team India collapsed to 51/1 in 9/.2 overs before losing the remaining half of the wickets for just 59 runs, eventually bundling out for 111 in 18.5 overs, highlighting a lack of application and composure under pressure.
Former India opener Sanjay Manjrekar shared his thoughts on Team India’s heavy defeat to the Proteas. In a video posted on his official Instagram handle, Manjrekar described that the loss was a wake-up call for Team India, urging the team to remain humble and respect the opposition, and improve key areas before their remaining matches of the Super 8 stage.
“A big defeat for India against South Africa. The first strong team India has played, and they haven’t really coped well. But the good news is that India is not out of the tournament,” former India cricketer said.
“What South Africa have done — and we have to be humble and respect the opposition, and in a way thank them — is show us three areas of improvement that we can still work on to get into the final rounds and hopefully win the title,” he added.
India seemingly headed into the Super 8 with confidence and head held high on the back of an unbeaten run in the group stage. However, the Men in Blue were given a harsh reality check by the clinical South African side, exposing vulnerabilities in both batting depth and middle-overs bowling.
Sanjay Manjrekar highlighted three areas of improvement that Team India needed to address before the remaining Super 8 fixtures against Zimbabwe and West Indies. The former Indian batter emphasized that India must improve their batting against spin, handle slower deliveries more effectively, while pointing out that skipper Suryakumar Yadav struggled when the pace was taken off.
Manjrekar further suggested bringing in Kuldeep Yadav to strengthen India’s bowling attack, as having another genuine wicket-taking spin bowler could provide crucial breakthroughs when the batting isn’t firing.
“The first area of concern is obvious: India are struggling against spin. So how do you solve that? Rearrange the batting order so that naturally good players of spin bat higher up. Someone like Tilak Varma, who is struggling a little, can move down the order,” the former India cricketer said.
“The other glaring thing in this game was that when pace bowlers took the pace off, Indian batters struggled. The captain seemed to struggle the most when the pace was taken off,” Manjrekar added.
“When the batting isn’t firing, teams often look to add more batting depth. But another way to cover that weakness is by strengthening the bowling. So get Kuldeep Yadav in.” he concluded.
Following a top-order failure in India’s defeat to South Africa, Ryan ten Doeschate and Sitanshu Kotal hint at a potential shake-up in the playing XI, likelihood of bringing in Sanju Samson and Axar Patel,, to revive the team’s chances of qualifying for the semifinal.
