IND vs SA: After 76-Run Loss to South Africa, Suryakumar Yadav Admits Batting Collapse, Tilak and Abhishek Under Scanner

Opening batsmen Abhishek Sharma and Tilak Varma have proven to be complete flops throughout this tournament. In a press conference held the evening before the match against South Africa, questions were raised to Surya about the form of these two batsmen. At that time, the captain defended them and spoke about retaining them in the team.

Suryakumar Yadav, India vs South Africa, T20 World Cup 2026: India slumped to a 76-run defeat against South Africa in their Super Eight clash on Sunday, with a brittle batting display undoing what captain Suryakumar Yadav felt was a commendable effort with the ball. At the Narendra Modi Stadium, South Africa compiled 187 for 7 from their 20 overs, setting India a stiff target. In response, the chase never gathered momentum as India were dismissed for 111 in 18.5 overs, a collapse Suryakumar acknowledged left significant room for improvement in the batting department.

Defeat After a Good Start

After the first defeat in the T20 World Cup 2026, captain Suryakumar Yadav said, "I felt we were in the game from the start. We bowled very well in the beginning. The South African team had lost 3 wickets for 21 runs (20 runs). After that, the way they batted between overs 7 and 15 was commendable. But later, we came back into the game. Overall, our bowling was good, we could have just done a little better with the batting."

Suryakumar Yadav Blames the Batsmen

Surya said, "I believe that when you are chasing 180-185 runs, you cannot win the match in the powerplay, but you can definitely lose the match there. We lost too many wickets in the power play and then couldn't build those small partnerships while chasing 180-185 runs, which we wanted. But this is cricket. We will learn from it, sit down, review, and then make a strong comeback."

Abhishek Sharma and Tilak Varma Completely Flop

The main reason for India's defeat was their poor batting. Opening batsmen Abhishek Sharma and Tilak Varma have proven to be complete flops throughout this tournament. In the press conference held the evening before the match against South Africa, Surya was questioned about the form of these two batsmen. At that time, the captain had defended them and spoken about retaining them in the team. Now, this decision has backfired on the team.

Jasprit Bumrah-Arshdeep Singh's Lethal Partnership

In this match, Jasprit Bumrah took 3 wickets for 15 runs, while Arshdeep Singh took 2 wickets for 28 runs. Praising these bowlers, the captain said, "As far as the bowling pair is concerned, everyone knows how lethal the Jasprit Bumrah-Arshdeep Singh pair is. Both have played together. Today also, they bowled eight overs together, took about five wickets, and conceded around 45-50 runs. They bowled brilliantly, and that's what we expect from them. Both are experienced, and their presence in the team is very beneficial for us."

Team India will face Zimbabwe in their next Super-8 match on February 26. Captain Surya said, "In the next match against Zimbabwe, our effort will be to bat well, bowl well, and field well. We will keep things simple, play the kind of cricket we want to play, nothing will change. I am confident that we will make a strong comeback."