After Team India’s 76-run defeat against South Africa in the Super-8 match of T20 World Cup 2026, questions are now being raised on the captaincy and strategy. This defeat has made India’s path to the semi-finals difficult and now the team will have to win the remaining two matches by a big margin. Meanwhile, former Indian cricketer Mohammad Kaif has openly expressed his displeasure over some decisions of captain Suryakumar Yadav.
The match slipped out of control between 7 and 15 overs.
Kaif believes that India lost the match between the 7th and 15th overs. During this time, an important partnership was formed between South African batsmen David Miller and Dewald Brewis, which completely changed the course of the match. Indian bowlers failed to break this partnership and the team kept falling behind in the match.
Kaif especially raised questions on the use of fast bowler Jasprit Bumrah. He said that a match-winning bowler like Bumrah should have been brought in the middle overs so that the partnership could be broken, but this was not done.
Comparison with Rohit’s captaincy
Giving the example of former captain Rohit Sharma’s captaincy, Kaif said that he always made Bumrah return in the middle overs after the powerplay. This would break the rhythm of the opposition team and increase the chances of getting wickets.
In the match against South Africa, Bumrah definitely took important wickets like Quinton de Kock and Ryan Rickelton in the initial overs, but after that he was not called to bowl for a long time. By the time Bumrah came to bowl again in the 17th over, the opposition team was in a strong position.
The road to the semi-finals became difficult
With this defeat, India’s unbeaten record of 12 matches has also been broken. This was India’s second biggest defeat in T20 International cricket. Now the challenge before Team India to reach the semi-finals has become more difficult. If India has to progress in the tournament, it will now have to win its remaining two matches and also improve its net run rate. In such a situation, the team management will have to focus on better strategy and correct bowling changes in the coming matches, so that the hope of returning to the tournament remains.
