South Africa, the dumbest team in the T20 World Cup, could have eliminated India: Vaughan

Former England captain Michael Vaughan has termed South Africa as the dumbest team in the T20 World Cup 2026 and claimed that it was their mistake that allowed India to win the tournament. Vaughan said that if South Africa allowed the West Indies to beat them in their Super 8 clash, then India would face an uphill task to reach the semi-finals and could be eliminated in the process. During the Super 8 stage, India lost to South Africa by 76 runs and Suryakumar Yadav’s team found themselves in a tough spot, needing to win their next two matches against Zimbabwe and West Indies. I

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India beat Zimbabwe but it was also narrow after the result of the clash between South Africa and West Indies in Ahmedabad. The Proteas defeated the Windies to seal their place and make India’s encounter with the two-time champions a virtual quarter-final in Kolkata. The home side won the match and beat England in the semi-finals. South Africa were eliminated from the tournament after losing to New Zealand in the final four stages.

“I’ll tell you who I think is the dumbest team in the tournament? South Africa. Because if South Africa had allowed West Indies to beat them in the Super 8s, India would have been knocked out. I’m just saying – if they had cleaned them out, the juggernaut that was coming would have stopped,” Vaughan said on the Stick to Cricket podcast.

“By winning that game, they allowed the juggernaut to continue. India then beat Zimbabwe, then the West Indies in a sort of quarter-final and then England. South Africa had to play Zimbabwe next and they even rested three players for that game,” he added.

“KNOCK OUT THE BEST TEAM EARLY”

Vaughan suggested that the way to win the World Cup is to ensure that the best team is eliminated early.

“Look, these things shouldn’t happen and they usually don’t. I’m just saying if you want to win the World Cup, the best way is to knock out the best team early,” Vaughan said.

Should South Africa lose to the West Indies, they would find themselves in a tricky spot and push their qualification to the final Super 8 clash against Zimbabwe. The Proteans were after all they defeated the Blackcaps in the semi-finalsmeaning their wait for the World Cup continued.

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Published on:

13 March 2026 08:55 IST