ICC T20 World Cup 2026 | India hunt ‘perfect game’ in Super Eights showdown against South Africa

Ahmedabad: “Look, I don’t think we’ve played our perfect game yet. But we’ve had contributions from most of the players now, barring Abhishek (Sharma). I think we are moving in the right direction. So it’s a good time to peak. And like I said, we haven’t played our best game yet, but this is the time to bring it to the table,” said India’s assistant coach Ryan ten Doeschate after India eased past the Netherlands in their final Group A game on Wednesday.

Doeschate, known for his point-blank assessments, was spot on. Yes, India — faced with challenging pitches, well-prepared opposition bowlers and a shocking dip in the form of their primary gun-slinger Abhishek — have not been at their ruthless best in the ICC T20 World Cup so far. But, like champion sides always do, they’ve found a way to solve the problem in the first phase and they’ve chugged along through smart play.

Now comes the all-important Super Eights phase, where there is little room for improvement and they have to put their best foot forward. First up on Sunday at the Narendra Modi Stadium here is South Africa, a team they beat in a nerve-wracking final in June 2024 at Barbados and have been sharing an intense rivalry across formats over the last decade.

A couple of issues they’ll be looking to tackle, which a charged-up South Africa — the reigning World Test Championship title holders — will be keen to exploit, are: Abhishek all at sea in his maiden World Cup and batters struggling to force the pace in the middle overs.  

When a batter gets out for a duck in three consecutive innings, it’s hard to pinpoint the exact flaw. Is he out of sorts? Is he lacking confidence? Is impatience costing him dear? Is the occasion of an event as big as the World Cup playing on his mind? Questions are plenty.

Till the start of the World Cup, Abhishek was the bonafide star of this fire-packed batting line-up, but such is the unforgiving nature of cricket in the country, he’s now the man under intense scrutiny. Sunday is a perfect stage for the 25-year-old southpaw to silence all that noise and regain his destructive powers. He could help his cause by getting his eye in before deciding to pull the trigger.

India will also have to find a way to correct the middle-overs slump. Opposition spinners have tied the likes of Tilak Varma and Suryakumar Yadav down, leaving finishers like Hardik Pandya and Shivam Dube to do the majority of the heavy lifting at the death.

South Africa, who locked horns with India in a T20I series last December which they lost 1-3, have played all but one of their four league games at this stadium. In a way, they may have a better grip of the conditions, which they’ll be looking to use to their advantage. Historically, they’ve been blessed with a good pace attack, and it’s no different now with the trio of Kagiso Rabada, Lungi Ngidi and Marco Jansen — who has become a thorn in the flesh for India with his feisty displays — in good form.

South Africa also bat deep, which means the Indian bowlers will have no respite. Openers Aiden Markram and Quinton de Kock are extremely destructive and can take the game away from the opposition on their day, while the likes of Dewald Brevis, David Miller, Tristan Stubbs and Jansen have the ability to play match-winning knocks.

Where South Africa could have a problem is in the spin department, which has worried the left-hand-loaded Indian line-up. Keshav Maharaj is the only frontline option, but Indian southpaws should be able to deal with him better because he’s a left-arm orthodox. So the onus is on part-timers Markram and Stubbs to step up. That’s where India may have an advantage, given their superior firepower in that department.

Squads

India: Suryakumar Yadav (capt), Ishan Kishan, Sanju Samson, Rinku Singh, Axar Patel (vice-capt), Abhishek Sharma, Shivam Dube, Hardik Pandya, Tilak Varma, Washington Sundar, Arshdeep Singh, Jasprit Bumrah, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohammed Siraj, Varun Chakravarthy.

South Africa: Aiden Markram (capt), Dewald Brevis, Quinton de Kock, David Miller, Ryan Rickelton, Jason Smith, Tristan Stubbs, Corbin Bosch, Marco Jansen, George Linde, Keshav Maharaj, Kwena Maphaka, Lungi Ngidi, Anrich Nortje, Kagiso Rabada.