India’s Tilak Varma, right, and captain Suryakumar Yadav (AP Photo/Ajit Solanki)
TimesofIndia.com in Ahmedabad: Suryakumar Yadav & Co. have won all their matches in the T20 World Cup group stage, but a 4-0 record doesn’t caress the cracks that have been exposed along the way. The worrying pattern and vulnerability to off-spin will make Super Eight planning quite simple for their opponents, starting with South Africa on February 22.Now the teams know what to do and even India will know what to expect. But the million dollar question remains: What are they going to do to fix it?
How Suryakumar Yadav and Tilak Varma are damaging India | T20 World Cup
India had a disastrous over in the opening match against USA and the side’s overly cautious approach was understandable after being reduced to 46/4. The power-play situation improved in the next match against Namibia, but the partnership between Surya and Tilak Varma sapped the momentum of India’s innings. They added 58 runs from 86/1 and lost three wickets in the next eight overs. Surya-Tilak’s stand lasted just 18 deliveries, accumulating just 16 runs in the over.The big match against Pakistan was no different. Despite Ishan Kishan’s stunning 40-ball 77, India scored 73 runs and lost one wicket between overs 7 and 14. The Surya-Tiak pair were in the middle for most of the period but scored just 38 runs from 34 balls, keeping their individual scores just around the run-a-ball mark. A similar scenario played out against the Netherlands as India managed 62 runs for the loss of three wickets. Surya and Tilak were again the two batsmen who spent the most time at the crease, but their partnership amassed only 30 runs off 28 balls.The defending champions have found various players to step up and stop the slide, but the pattern remains very slippery. Under coach Gautam Gambhir and captain Surya, India started as a T20I unit where only the opening positions were fixed. Players’ entry points were more situation and match driven, but the method changed closer to the World Cup as Tilak was assigned No.3 and Surya made No.4 his own position.
India’s Tilak Varma and captain Suryakumar Yadav during the Men’s T20 World Cup 2026 (ANI Photo)
The Mumbai Indians teammates did not have the best of times together in the tournament as the opponents successfully faced India’s fixed four batting line-up. For the Netherlands, the match against Pakistan provided a sufficient sample size to determine their plans.“I think obviously we looked at the Pakistan game and we saw that they were struggling with the spin. So we focused on – in the power bowling rotation, we tried to limit their scoring options. I think the spinners bounced really well to stop them from getting off to a good start, so credit to them,” Bas de Leede said at the post-match presser.Led by Aryan Dutt, the Dutch bowlers did not give away and left India on 69/3 after nine overs on a slow wicket where the odd ball was held up during the first innings.“It was definitely a tough pitch to start with a little bit slow, a little bit of possession, whether it was from the spinners or the pacers who were speeding the ball up. So it was a tough pitch to start with and I think it showed that even Dubé started quite slowly and ended up with 60 from 30 once he got in. So I think he played it really well, but I think we also said we still played the ball well to handle them.India’s star performer Shivam Dube explained that World Cups are not easy and defended the pair under fire by attributing their approach to the game situation. Dube emphasized that their batting approach is more about how they started.“Sir, this is the World Cup. The game is a bit difficult, it’s not easy. If we don’t get the start we want, then Tilak and Surya’s game is different. They bat according to the situation. If the situation calls for it, they have to bat according to it. If Tilak has to bat in a particular situation, he will do it and I don’t need to say anything about Dub because he is the best player the team can take.
Suryakumar Yadav (R) works with Tilak Varma of India (Photo: Prakash Singh/Getty Images)
It was the same for India at the World Cup, where Tilak’s entry points came earlier than he would probably have been used to and a more aware opposition only added to their woes. The spinners and seamers have maintained the choke with their clever variations and more of the same is expected from South Africa, West Indies and Zimbabwe – India’s three opponents in the Super Eight.In particular, India’s scoring rate against off-spin has been very common and even the left-right edge of Surya and Tilaka has yet to offer any advantage. If revising the entire batting order debate is not ideal at this stage, the management needs to inject some urgency into their experienced players. The run-of-the-ball score against off-spin during this crucial period – which often pits the top order against the lower order – is a number that would excite India’s opponents. As for the Indian camp, assistant coach Ryan ten Doeschate felt it was a World Cup trend and could be the difference in the second phase.“I think that’s been the trend in the World Cup. If you think about the IPL and a lot of the bilaterals, the pace of the innings seems to come from the power play. In almost every game – both in Sri Lanka and in India – you seem to get out of the blocks quickly and the batting is a bit more difficult in the middle stages. The teams are smarter now. line-up, I think it’s a challenge and could be a differentiator in the second phase of this competition,” the Doeschate said during the ICC’s mixed media interaction.The Indian team has just one day’s rest before hitting the net in Ahmedabad to face South Africa, the other unbeaten team in the tournament. Opponents will come hard, better equipped with their schemes and the onus will be on this batting unit to produce a complete game in the tournament. They failed to do so in their first four matches but an ideal outing on February 22 will help everyone sharpen their tools to be battle ready for the Proteas.