Mohammad Kaif (Pic: File Pic)
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Team India suffered a loss by 76 runs in the Super 8 match of the T20 World Cup 2026 against South Africa at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad.
Mohammad Kaif said the “Men in Blue” lost the match due to poor utilisation of lead pacer Jasprit Bumrah.
“We lost the match between the 7th and 15th over. You used Bumrah’s two overs early and kept the remaining two for the death. But Rohit Sharma never used Bumrah like this,” Kaif said on his YouTube channel.
He then said that Bumrah should bowl only one over in the powerplay and then bowl in the middle overs to break the partnership.
“He bowled one over in the middle to break a partnership. There is a big gap between his spells. There is no bigger match-winner in this team than Bumrah. They need to bowl him for just one over in the powerplay, and then get him to bowl the 11th or 12th,” he said.
This was India‘s second-biggest defeat by runs in all T20 Internationals behind the 80-run defeats against New Zealand in Wellington in 2019. In T20 World Cup history, India suffered their biggest defeat.
The loss has caused Team India to slip to third position in Group 1. Suryakumar Yadav-led Team India has one loss with a net run rate (NRR) of -3.800. India’s loss of 76 runs against South Africa has tightened their qualification scenarios for the semi-finals. The Men in Blue will have to win the remaining two games with a good net run rate to keep their hopes of defending the T20 World Cup alive.
The “Men in Blue” are set to clash against Zimbabwe on February 26 at the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai. They will then lock horns with the West Indies on March 1 at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata.
India’s squad for the T20 World Cup 2026
Suryakumar Yadav (C), Sanju Samson (WK), Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, Hardik Pandya, Jasprit Bumrah, Ishan Kishan (WK), Rinku Singh, Mohammed Siraj, Washington Sundar, Shivam Dube, Abhishek Sharma, Varun Chakaravarthy, Arshdeep Singh, Tilak Varma.
(With ANI Inputs)
