India lost to South Africa in Super 8s by 76 runs in Ahmedabad.
Former Indian all-rounder Irfan Pathan expressed disappointment as India suffered a huge and morale-dropping 76-run defeat to South Africa in their first Super 8s game of the T20 World Cup 2026. This match was played in Ahmedabad on February 22.
After winning the toss and choosing to bat, South Africa piled up 187/7 in 20 overs thanks to brilliant batting by David Miller, Dewald Brevis, and Tristan Stubbs. In reply, India was bowled out for 111 runs, with Marco Jansen taking four wickets and Keshav Maharaj taking three scalps.
Pathan said that after the South African batters began attacking Chakaravarthy, he appeared to be at a loss. He added that South Africa's Keshav Maharaj took three wickets, which changed the outcome of the match, despite the Ahmedabad surface providing little support for spinners.
Chakaravarthy, who was targeted by David Miller and Dewald Brevis in the middle overs, let up 47 runs in his four-over performance while capturing just one wicket.
“Apart from Bumrah, nothing much stood out in the bowling, except for the new spell bowled by Arshdeep. The most disappointing aspect was Varun Chakaravarthy. When he was attacked, he had no answer, which was somewhat disappointing. Surely, there wasn’t much spin in the pitch, but even Maharaj managed to take three wickets. That was some excellent bowling," Irfan Pathan was quoted as saying on his YouTube channel.
Furthermore, Pathan targeted Hardik Pandya for his poor bowling in the death overs, particularly to Tristan Stubbs, who hit him to all parts of the Narendra Modi stadium, including two sixes in the final over of the Proteas innings.
Pathan also thought that Hardik Pandya's over, in which he gave 20 runs, turned the momentum to South Africa. He chastised Pandya for not attempting to bowl yorkers to Tristan Stubbs, allowing Stubbs to open his arms and score easily.
“Towards the end, when the score reached 167 and 19 overs were done, Hardik came to bowl the final over. He bowled to Tristan Stubbs in the way he prefers, slightly short, slightly into the pitch, giving the batsman a chance to open their hands. He did not aim too much at the yorker, and because of that, Tristan Stubbs took advantage and hit runs freely. That completely shifted the momentum back to the dressing room," he added.
While India has not been eliminated from the T20 World Cup, they’d need some big wins against Zimbabwe and the West Indies in their remaining Super 8s games to qualify for the semis.
(ANI inputs)