Former India captain Kris Srikkanth launched a scathing attack on India’s batting unit following their crushing 76-run loss to the South Africa national cricket team in the T20 World Cup 2026 Super Eight clash in Ahmedabad.
Chasing 188, India imploded spectacularly and were bowled out for 111 in the 19th over. The collapse was triggered early when in-form opener Ishan Kishan was killed by a four-ball duck in the first over, falling to Aiden Markram’s part-time spin.
Reacting to the reckless start, Srikkanth did not mince words while speaking on his YouTube channel.
“Ishan Kishan was almost caught mid-on the previous delivery, but he is hitting the next ball. Was it necessary to hit the next delivery? Rinku Singh only scores in single digits wherever he comes to bat. It is easy to play in two-sided series compared to ICC events. Batsmen will now question his approach in future. Abhishek Sharma has already switched from striker to non-striker in this match.”
The former opener also questioned the team’s batting order, singling out Suryakumar Yadav for not taking more responsibility.
“Suryakumar Yadav made a big mistake. He should have made it to number 3. He only said that all positions except top ones are flexible. This left-right combination is nonsense. It’s what led Hardik Pandya to make it to number 7. Only playing good cricket and your mentality matter.”
Suryakumar came in at No. 4 with India reeling at 5/2 and managed just 18 off 22 deliveries. Meanwhile, Hardik Pandya was surprisingly pushed to number 7, where he scored 18 off 17 balls.
Srikkanth was particularly furious at the decision to send Washington Sundar ahead of the set finishers when India were 26/3 in the fifth over. Sundar, promoted to number 5, scored 11 off 11 laborious balls as the chase stretched further away.
“It was absolutely ridiculous. India were humiliated today on all fronts. It’s what we normally do with our opponents, but the roles were reversed today. Hardik Pandya has done well in pressure situations at number 5. He should have come at number 5. Instead, he was sent at number 7, which was totally unfair. Hardik Pandya coming at number 7 was ridiculous decision-making,” Srikkanth said.
He warned that the consequences of such a tough defeat could linger.
“The mentality of the Indian batsmen will become even more negative. India’s batting throughout the tournament has not been consistent. One or two players just bailed out and even that was lost in this match. Dube hit a few sixes at the end but they were all empty calories once the game was over.”
Apart from Shivam Dube’s 42, none of the Indian batsmen managed to cross 20, marking one of their most disappointing batting performances in recent memory and leaving their Super Eight campaign at stake.