New Delhi, February 23 – After India suffered a heavy 76-run defeat to South Africa in their Super Eights clash of the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad on Sunday, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) secretary, Devajit Saikia, expressed confidence that the defending champions would quickly recover from the setback.
South Africa put up a clinical performance across the board, outplaying India in front of a crowd of 90,954. Despite being reduced to 20/3 within four overs, the Proteas rebuilt through David Miller (63 off 35 balls) and Dewald Brevis (45), whose 97-run partnership steadied the innings. A late flourish from Stubbs helped them reach a competitive 187/7.
India's reply never found its rhythm. Early wickets derailed the chase as they slipped to 51/5 within the first 10 overs. Shivam Dube's fighting 42 briefly raised hopes, but disciplined bowling from Marco Jansen (4-22), Keshav Maharaj (3-24) and Corbin Bosch ensured that the required run rate became unattainable. India were eventually bowled out for 111 in 18.5 overs, bringing an end to their 12-match winning streak in T20 World Cups.
Reacting to the defeat, Saikia shared a short but optimistic message on social media, indicating belief in the team's ability to regroup.
"Yesterday's India vs. South Africa match... we lost, but we will bounce back," Saikia captioned his X post.
The loss was India's first in an ICC event since the 2023 ODI World Cup final at the same venue and served as a reality check in the Super Eights stage. While Jasprit Bumrah (3-15) and Arshdeep Singh (2-28) delivered strong spells with the ball, India's batting unit struggled to adapt to the slightly slow surface, often failing to build meaningful partnerships after early setbacks.
With their net run rate dipping to -38, India now find themselves in a must-win situation in their remaining Super Eights fixtures against Zimbabwe and the West Indies to keep their semi-final hopes alive.
