India’s captain Suryakumar Yadav reacts after being hit by the ball in the course of the 2026 ICC Males´s T20 Cricket World Cup Tremendous Eights match between India and South Africa on the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad on February 22, 2026. — AFP
Pakistani cricketer Ahmed Shehzad has said that the rationale behind India’s humiliating loss to South Africa within the T20 World Cup is that the Males In Blue lack unity.
South Africa ended India’s 12-match successful streak on the T20 World Cup with a crushing 76-run win in Ahmedabad on Sunday within the opening Group 1 Tremendous Eights match.
Highlighting one other difficulty, he famous that India lacks an entire bowling assault. “They are forced to bowl [Shivam] Dube’s overs. So, this strategy of Gautam Gambhir and Surya Kumar —I just don’t understand it.”
“Although Bumrah did well to pull it back at the end, otherwise it was going way over. But in the middle, when they were being hit, they had no such options.”
South Africa’s captain Aiden Markram (centre) celebrates with teammates Ryan Rickelton (left) and David Miller (proper) after their workforce’s win on the finish of the 2026 T20 Cricket World Cup Tremendous Eights match between India and South Africa on the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad on February 22, 2026. — AFP
As I’ve mentioned earlier than, he added, this workforce has been chosen by Gautam Gambhir. “Somewhere or another, against a strong team, this combination will struggle, and today they have been exposed.”
“Look at Surya Kumar Yadav; he is the captain, and yet his hands were up [he looked helpless]. You know that look on the face and eyes when someone is panicked? His hands and feet were swollen.”
“A leader’s body language should be ‘never-die’. But as the sixes were being hit, Surya was sinking right along with them. To me, it looked like he wanted to fly to catch the ball.
But the problem isn’t Surya; with the team Gautam Gambhir and Surya are playing together, he will get trapped inside, just as he was trapped today. I told you before: just one more match. And who is the next match against? Well, they lost this one to a ‘weak’ team — the next one is against Zimbabwe.”
