Former Team India assistant coach Abhishek Nair revealed some wrong calls made by the Suryakumar Yadav-led side against South Africa. Nair explains why the batsmen failed to chase the target. He also pointed out that the wrong move cost the team management over the opening pair.
From the top of the batting order to the bottom, it was only Shivam Dubey who successfully scored notable runs on the challenging wicket of the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad.
India’s entire batting order collapsed against South Africa
Ahead of the Super 8 stage, Team India was in top form, overcoming all obstacles in the group stage set by the United States, Namibia, Pakistan and the Netherlands. On the strength of pure team play, India won all its group matches and qualified for the next stage of the 2026 T20 World Cup.
On the night of February 22, the momentum was there with the Men in Blue, but one wrong call could be enough to spoil the party. The first call made by the team management was to ask Ishan Kishan to take the early balls over Abhishek Sharma. Ishan Kishan was the in-form batsman, but his opening partner Abhishek Sharma finished with three consecutive ducks in the group stage.
Team management wanted to save Abhishek Sharma
The management’s intention might have been to protect Abhishek Sharma and use Kishan as security. Abhishek Nair says things started going bad for the tournament co-host as soon as Aiden Markram, who is a part-time spinner, dismissed Kishan for a duck. Abhishek Sharma also got out cheaply.
“It is going to be a very uncomfortable discussion between Ishan Kishan and Abhishek as to who takes the strike because suddenly they have given the baton of zero to Ishan Kishan (Abhishek Sharma), who was in excellent form,” believes the experienced coach.
He further added, “But it is a problem for India. There is definitely going to be a discussion on how they can overcome the bowling of an off-spinner, because remember, when they face the West Indies as well, Roston Chase is going to bowl to them in the powerplay.”
Abhishek Nair’s suggestion for Indian batsmen
Be it Pakistan or South Africa, most of the teams target the opening pair of the Indian national cricket team as spinners. Nair is a gentle reminder that West Indies also have Roston Chase, who can cause damage with his spin bowling.
To avoid similar situations in the upcoming matches, which will be against Zimbabwe and then West Indies, the coach suggests that the batsmen rethink their approach against the spinners.
“So they will want to come back with better plans. With the new ball, when you hit the seam sometimes as a finger spinner, you can get that extra bounce, and that is the tricky part. If it is a little bit slow in the air, as we saw there, and the ball hits the seam and deviates even a little bit, that is enough to get you out in T20 cricket because it creates doubt and can cost you wickets”, Nair added.
read moreSunil Gavaskar destroys ‘overconfident’ India batsmen after crushing defeat against South Africa in T20 World Cup