Sunil Gavaskar on India’s T20 WC defeat vs South Africa: ‘Batter after batter looked to go for maximums instead of trying to stabilise the innings’

India’s defeat to South Africa in the opening game of the Super Eight stage of the ICC T20 World Cup has not only shaken their winning momentum, but it has also put the title holders under enormous pressure. It is not just the loss, but the margin of the defeat, that matters. The Indian team needs to win the remaining two matches, and they must do so by big margins to improve their net run rate.

It was a shocking loss, especially after having rocked South Africa in their batting PowerPlay by capturing three wickets. That there can be a recovery with a good partnership is part of the game. David Miller, along with Dewald Brevis, did that for the South Africans. While Indians have seen Miller play many splendid innings, Brevis is still the new kid on the block, as far as international cricket is concerned. He is also capable of clobbering the ball into the stands. But during this partnership, he showed great maturity by letting Miller dominate the scoring while he himself settled in. This was hardly seen in the Indian batting approach as they looked to chase down the target set by the Proteas.

There is not just one big-hitting way to score runs in the game, and that too in the ultra-short format. It is not all about hitting huge shots but also about knocking the ball into gaps and running hard. After all, the asking rate at the start was less than 10 runs an over. Yet batter after batter looked to go for maximums instead of trying to stabilise the innings and build a partnership and a platform, as Miller and Brevis did for South Africa, from which to launch a counterattack in the last quarter of the innings.

The result? A defeat by 76 runs and a net run rate that is rock bottom. Both Zimbabwe and West Indies are playing superbly in this event. So it will not be easy for India to beat these rejuvenated teams.

Even as the World Cup takes centre stage, it was heartening to see Jammu and Kashmir enter their first Ranji Trophy final. Over the last few years, they have been regulars in the knockout stages of the Ranji Trophy. But this time around, they have a chance to get their hands on the symbol of the National Championship, the Ranji Trophy. It will not be easy, of course. They are playing against Karnataka, who have won the Ranji Trophy several times before and know how to handle the pressure of a final.

The Under-19 boys winning the World Cup shows that there is talent aplenty in Indian cricket. But often the performers in the Ranji Trophy do not get the recognition their deeds deserve.

Where are the stories of players like Ravichandran Smaran, Ayush Doseja, Sanat Sangwan, Sudip Kumar Gharami, Abhinav Tejrana, Siddhesh Lad, Aman Mokhade, Armaan Jaffer and Kunal Chandela, who have all scored over 700 runs this year?

Where are the write-ups on Mayank Mishra and Siddharth Desai, to name two bowlers who have taken more than 40 wickets this season? Yes, there have been write-ups about Auqib Nabi. But could that be because he was snapped up in the IPL auction? If that had not happened, he, too, would perhaps have been ignored. Like the names mentioned above.

The Ranji Trophy is the National Championship and should therefore be given prominence. Perhaps because the players are not always on television, like the U-19 and IPL boys, their efforts do not get the gushing headlines that others receive.

Then there is the lament that U-19 World Cups and the IPL are a shortcut to the India cap. But who is to be blamed? Only the selectors? Or also those who sideline Ranji Trophy performers to some remote corner of their papers, or do not even mention them on their television shows and public media platforms?

With India on the back foot in the World Cup, hopefully, the Ranji Trophy final will get more coverage. Or is that too much to hope for?

Published on Feb 23, 2026