India will face South Africa in their T20 World Cup Super Eight opener in Ahmedabad. While India’s batting has shown inconsistencies, the team relies on Jasprit Bumrah and Varun Chakravarthy to deliver with the ball against a strong Proteas line-up
Published Date – 21 February 2026, 11:56 PM
India’s captain Suryakumar Yadav with teammates Ishan Kishan, Rinku Singh and others during a training session ahead of the ICC Mens T20 World Cup 2026 match against South Africa, at Narendra Modi Stadium, in Ahmedabad, on Saturday. Photo: PTI
Ahmedabad: Skipper Suryakumar Yadav and Tilak Varma’s rejigged philosophy of dropping anchor rather than going for big strokes will be tested by a quality South African side that looks ready to find chinks in the Indian armour during their opening Super Eight match of the T20 World Cup here on Sunday.
The Proteas team boasts a formidable bowling line-up comprising Kagiso Rabada, Lungi Ngidi, Marco Jansen, Keshav Maharaj and Aiden Markram. The defending champions will be mindful of the challenge.
The two teams will be playing for the sixth time in the last two months, and it remains to be seen which side handles the familiarity better on Sunday night.
India have not exactly faced probing questions at the group stage, but the home favourites know their batting has left a lot to be desired.
Save for opener Ishan Kishan, who scored two fifties with a strike rate of 202, the other top-four batters have struggled.
Abhishek Sharma is out of form with three ducks. While Suryakumar and Tilak justify playing anchor roles, both have looked far from fluent on tracks where the ball is gripping.
India’s run-scoring has relied on brute power, which Hardik Pandya (strike rate 155) and Shivam Dube (strike rate 178) provide at the back end.
With Abhishek falling to off-spinners twice in a row, it will be interesting to see whether skipper Markram uses off-breaks in the Powerplay.
Tilak’s scratchy batting throughout the first leg also raises concerns. Against Pakistan, he scored 25 off 24 balls; against Namibia, 25 off 21; and versus Netherlands, 31 off 27. His strike rate in the tournament is just above 120, below his career average of 141.
Save his match-winning 84 not out off 49 balls against a US attack weakened by injuries, Suryakumar has not displayed much fluency against Pakistan or Netherlands. His tournament strike rate of 136 plus is well below his career strike rate of 163 plus.
An Indian team that plays with eight batters and aims to go all out cannot afford to have two players unable to score freely on slow surfaces. In T20 World Cup tournaments, caution is not always the better option.
The overall quality of this team is undeniable. Good teams score 200 on their best days; this Indian team reaches near 200 even on average days.
What makes India a serious threat, and still a strong favourite, is the bowling attack. Jasprit Bumrah and Varun Chakravarthy bowl eight of the 20 overs. In the initial round, none of the four teams, including a second-rate Pakistan side, could handle the duo.
Chakravarthy, with nine wickets in four games, has an economy rate of 5.16, while Bumrah, as economical as ever, has conceded only six runs per over in three games.
But against an in-form South African batting line-up — including Quinton de Kock, Markram, Dewald Brevis, Tristan Stubbs, Ryan Rickleton, David Miller and Marco Jansen in the top seven — the entire bowling unit will need to perform well.
The South Africa match will indicate how India’s campaign at the business end of the tournament will progress.
India are expected to play Kuldeep Yadav in place of Arshdeep Singh, with Axar Patel returning after one match’s rest to replace Washington Sundar.
South Africa will recall Marco Jansen, Lungi Ngidi and Keshav Maharaj, all rested against UAE.
Squads:
India: Suryakumar Yadav (captain), Ishan Kishan (wk), Abhishek Sharma, Tilak Varma, Shivam Dube, Hardik Pandya, Rinku Singh, Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah, Varun Chakravarthy, Sanju Samson (wk), Mohammed Siraj, Washington Sundar, Arshdeep Singh
South Africa: Aiden Markram (captain), Quinton de Kock (wk), Ryan Rickleton, Dewald Brevis, Tristan Stubbs, David Miller, Marco Jansen, Kagiso Rabada, Lungi Ngidi, Keshav Maharaj, Corbin Bosch, Anrich Nortje, Kwena Maphaka, George Linde, Jason Smith
Match starts: 7 pm
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