Sunil Gavaskar schools India batters after eye-opener defeat against South Africa in T20 World Cup 2026 Super 8 tie

Cricketing legend Sunil Gavaskar slammed India's batting approach after their humiliating defeat against South Africa in the Super 8 of the ICC T20 World Cup 2026. Notably, South Africa defeated India by 76 runs at Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad to inch closer to the semifinal to the mega event.

Gavaskar said that the Indian batter failed to adapt to the conditions despite clear evidence from South Africa's innings. He further explained his point, giving the example of Dewald Brevis and David Miller, who rebuilt the Proteas innings after early setbacks.

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Sunil Gavaskar on India's defeat

Gavaskar believes that South Africa's batters played straighter and showed awareness of the pitch's conditions, especially against the short ball, whereas India's batters failed to understand the situation

"When you look at how Dewald Brevis and David Miller repaired the South African innings, they played shots more in the V. When the bouncers were bowled, they countered them intelligently because they realised that the ball was not coming onto the bat quickly. Having seen how Brevis and Miller built their partnership, that was the approach needed from the Indian batters," Gavaskar said on JioStar.

"But India did not take notes from South Africa's innings. They came out and threw their bat at every delivery, hoping for a boundary. That is not how you play T20 cricket. You have to learn from the opposition. If they have scored well on a tricky surface like this, you have to get rid of your ego, observe and adjust. The Indian batters did not do that. They came out with overconfidence, threw their bat at everything and lost wickets. South Africa clearly outsmarted India, and it was a well-deserved win for them," he added.

India's forgettable records after South Africa defeat

The Men in Blue suffered their biggest T20 World Cup defeat in 2026 against South Africa in Ahmedabad surpassing their last loss against Australia by 49 runs in 2010.

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India's Biggest Defeats in T20 World Cup (by runs)

76 runs vs SA Ahmedabad 2026
49 runs vs Aus Bridgetown 2010
47 runs vs NZ Nagpur 2016

T20 World Cup defeat after three years

Apart from that India lost a Multi-Nation T20I tournament after three years. Team India lost their last T20I clash in a multinational tournament in 2022 during the semifinal clash against England. Since than India has played a total of 23 matches, winning 21, with one match being inconclusive and one loss. India had lost the World Cup 2023 final against Australia at this very ground. This is India's first defeat in all formats of ICC events in 18 matches since that encounter.

How will India qualify for T20 World Cup 2026 semifinal?

After losing against South Africa, India will have to win their remaining two games with a good net run rate to keep their hopes of defending the T20 World Cup alive. The Men in Blue will now face Zimbabwe in their second T20 World Cup 2026 Super 8 clash, which will take place on February 26 at MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai.