Abhishek Sharma recorded three consecutive ducks in the group stage.
South Africa wicketkeeper-batter Quinton de Kock believes handling pressure and winning the small moments would be critical when his side come up against India in the T20 World Cup 2026 Super 8 clash, scheduled for February 22 in Ahmedabad.
Both teams have entered the Super 8 round unbeaten. The Proteas opened their campaign with a 57-run victory against Canada, followed by a double Super Over win over Afghanistan. To prove their title contender credentials, the Aiden Markram-led side defeated New Zealand by seven wickets and finished Group D atop with a six-wicket victory against UAE.
On the other hand, the Suryakumar Yadav-led side had little difficulty in outclassing their Group A opponents – USA, Namibia, Pakistan and Netherlands.
"What's going to make for quite a good game tomorrow, I think, is that we've played against each other quite a bit over the last two months. To be honest, the teams haven't really changed much. So I think it's more when you're out there on the pressure side, who deals with the pressure better and wins the small moments in the game, and not even just playing against India.
"In the IPL, we're always playing against each other a lot. Everyone knows each other, how everyone plays, and how everyone thinks. So I think it's just a matter of being out there who falls under the pressure first," said de Kock in the pre-match presser on Saturday (February 21).
South Africa three group matches were played in Ahmedabad. It means that the Proteas are facing the defending champions in a familiar territory.
"I think it does help quite a bit. We've played a day game and a night game, so we kind of understand the conditions. But I don't think it means too much because the Indian team's played here and a lot of them have played here their whole careers. I don't think it plays that much of a difference at the end of the day," said de Kock.
Abhishek Sharma was expected to be India's destroyer-in-chief in the tournament, but the southpaw bagged three consecutive ducks in the group-stage.
While Sharma missed the Namibia game due to stomach infection and fever, he couldn’t trouble scorers in the matches against USA, Pakistan and Netherlands.
However, de Kock expects the Indian opener to come good at some point in the competition.
"He's the number one T20 batsman in the world at the moment, according to the ranking, so he must keep doing what he's doing. He's obviously quite young; he's bound to fail. So being number one obviously means something, and I'm sure at some point he's going to play an important knock."
Asked if South Africa could open the bowling with an off-spinner just as other teams had done to counter Indian left-handers at the top of the order, de Kock replied, "I think it all depends on how the wicket's playing. Obviously, if the wicket's not turning, it's obviously easier to play the spin. But in Ahmedabad, I think what we felt on these wickets has been a bit more seamer-friendly.
"The spin has kind of travelled a little bit. So I'm saying that it's all about conditions at the end of the day - it's always going to be harder for left-handed batsmen to struggle a bit against a right-arm offie if it's spinning. So like I said, it's all just on to the conditions, and what we deal with."
(With PTI Inputs)