India’s crushing 76-run defeat to South Africa in the Super 8 match of the ongoing T20 World Cup 2026 has exposed many weaknesses in the side. Following the shocker in Ahmedabad, Sanjay Manjrekar has raised serious concerns about captain Suryakumar Yadav and the batting unit.
Suryakumar Yadav struggles against slower balls
In the big clash at the Narendra Modi Stadium, South Africa used a very clear plan. Their fast bowlers kept bowling slower balls and taking pace off the deliveries. Suryakumar Yadav failed to counter this tactic and managed only 18 runs from 22 balls. They later bowled out for just 111.
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Manjrekar believes that this is not just one bad day, as he pointed out that the Indian batters are generally struggling when bowlers reduce pace. The commentator added that Suryakumar Yadav has been affected the most by this trick by the opposition teams.
The captain struggled the most now: Sanjay Manjrekar on Suryakumar Yadav
Sanjay Manjrekar said in a video posted on Instagram, “The other thing that was glaring in this game against South Africa was even the pace bowlers, when they take the pace off, Indian batters are struggling. The captain struggled the most now, when the pace was taken off.”
The former Indian batter also pointed out another major issue, and that is India’s struggle against spin. Manjrekar suggested that the team management should rethink the batting order.
He further noted, “India is struggling against spin. So how do you solve that? Try and rearrange the batting order in a way that naturally good players of spin are batting up the order, and people like Tilak Varma, who is struggling a little bit, can come down the order.”
Sanjay Manjrekar call for Kuldeep Yadav’s inclusion
Manjrekar also feels that when batting is not clicking, the team should strengthen bowling instead of just adding more batters. He has strongly called for the inclusion of left-arm wrist spinner Kuldeep Yadav in the playing XI. Kuldeep has played only one match so far in the tournament, against Pakistan.
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The cricket pundit further explained, “When the batting is uncertain, not firing, very often you try and get more batting depth. There’s another way to cover that weakness: by having a stronger bowling attack. So, get Kuldeep Yadav in. Varun can have a bad day, as we’ve seen.
If Kuldeep Yadav had played today, who knows, against David Miller, India could have gotten a wicket at that time. So, yes, try and make a change that is possible and immediately effective, and then work on the more complex problems of getting the batters to get better against spin and when the pace is taken off.”
India likely to make changes in Playing XI
Suryakumar Yadav-led India’s loss also ended their long winning streak in the T20 World Cup 2026. Now, with a must-win match coming up against Zimbabwe in Chennai on February 26, the pressure on Suryakumar and his team has intensified, so the changes in the playing XI are highly expected.
