Sunil Gavaskar slammed the Indian batters’ approach in the team’s huge loss to South Africa in their first Super 8s match in Ahmedabad on February 22. India lost the game by 76 runs to South Africa and suffered a huge dent to their net run rate as well.

David Miller’s fifty and Dewald Brevis and Tristan Stubbs’ brilliant contributions helped South Africa post 187/7 in 20 overs. In response, only Shivam Dube, with 42, stood up to the Proteas bowling attack, as India was bowled out for 111 runs, losing the game by 76 runs.

Legendary Indian batter Sunil Gavaskar told the Indian batters to take a cue from South Africa’s batters, shed their ego, and adapt to the conditions instead of walking out with overconfidence and throwing their bats at everything.

“Having seen how Brevis and Miller built their partnership, that was the approach needed from the Indian batters. The Indian batters did not do that. They came out with overconfidence, threw their bat at everything, and lost wickets. South Africa clearly outsmarted India, and it was a well-deserved win for them,” Gavaskar said on JioStar.

“India did not take notes from South Africa’s innings. They came out and threw their bat at every delivery, hoping for a boundary. That is not how you play T20 cricket. You have to learn from the opposition. If they have scored well on a tricky surface like this, you have to get rid of your ego, observe, and adjust,” he added.

India lost their top three—Ishan Kishan (0), Abhishek Sharma (15), and Tilak Varma (1)—inside the power play to slip to 26/3.

“Tilak Varma has been a very street-smart batter. But I was disappointed with his approach in this game. Ishan Kishan lost his wicket in the first over. The required rate was around 9.5 runs per over, not 15. So, Tilak could have given himself more time. At the other end, Abhishek Sharma had back-to-back ducks. So, the responsibility was on Tilak to stick around, build a partnership, and get past the first six overs, but he failed to do that,” Gavaskar said.

“You don’t always need to score 70 runs in the Powerplay. Even 55-60 runs would have been a good platform. But the reckless approach of the Indian batters led to their downfall in Ahmedabad,” he added.

India’s decision to bench Axar Patel for Washington Sundar caused a lot of controversy, especially as Sundar made 11 runs and didn’t pick a wicket in his 2 overs, giving away 17 runs. Gavaskar stated that he’d like Axar Patel to play in place of Sundar in Chennai against Zimbabwe.

“I would look at bringing Axar Patel back into the playing XI, keeping in mind the lack of too many left-handed batters in Zimbabwe’s line-up. You could possibly bring him in place of Arshdeep Singh. But Arshdeep bowled so well against South Africa, and you wouldn’t want to change somebody who looked in such good rhythm. So, maybe they might not make a change and go with the same team.

But I feel Washington Sundar will be the one to miss out. He is not being used properly. Against South Africa, he bowled just two overs and did nothing with the bat. Against the Netherlands, he bowled four overs but took no wickets. I think the time has run out for Washington Sundar. Axar Patel will surely replace him,” Gavaskar stated.

India will next face Zimbabwe in Chennai on February 26 in their next Super 8s game.