Sunil Gavaskar Expresses Disappointment Over Tilak Varma’s Batting Approach In High-Stakes South Africa Clash

Did Tilak Varma miss an opportunity to anchor India's innings in their 76-run defeat against South Africa at the Narendra Modi Stadium, Ahmedabad, on Sunday (February 22, 2026)? Batting great Sunil Gavaskar certainly thinks so.

Varma, 23, occupies a position of envy in the cricketing world. A gifted batter with a proven record of anchoring an innings, now bats at No.3 for India, the defending ICC T20 World Cup champions and arguably the most dominant side.

But in the 2026 edition, the Hyderabadi has only produced middling scores, 31 against the Netherlands in a group match being his highest. Before that, he scored 25 each against the United States of America, Namibia and Pakistan.

On Sunday, against South Africa, the losing finalists in the previous World Cup, India needed not only his presence in the middle but also an innings of maturity. And he failed on both counts.

Sunil Gavaskar Expressed Disappointment On Varma's Approach

"Tilak Varma has been a very street-smart batter. But I was disappointed with his approach in this game," Sunil Gavaskar told Star Sports in a post-game analysis show.

Chasing a target of 188 runs, the hosts lost mercurial Ishan Kishan for a four-ball duck to Aiden Markram, the Proteas captain, who employed his off-spin to counter Indian openers known for their attacking play. Varma entered, and he lasted two balls.

He ran down the pitch and tried to loft the ball over mid-off, but the extra bounce from Marco Jansen did the damage. Given out caught behind, and a review wasted. Abhishek Sharma had just hit a four off the last ball of the first over to open his World Cup account after three collecting three ducks.

"Ishan Kishan lost his wicket in the first over. The required rate was around 9.5 runs per over, not 15. So, Tilak could have given himself more time," Gavaskar reasoned. "At the other end, Abhishek Sharma had back-to-back ducks.

"So, the responsibility was on Tilak to stick around, build a partnership, and get past the first six overs, but he failed to do that."

Gavaskar Suggests India To Rejig Their Powerplay Approach

As it turned out, India were dismissed for 111 all out in 18.5 overs, thus suffering their biggest T20 World Cup defeat by runs. It also ended a 12-match tournament unbeaten streak, a run in which they won the 2024 title.

Considering everything, India's title defence has not been easy sailing. They won all four group matches, but except for the victory against arch-rivals Pakistan, Suryakumar Yadav & Co. showed batting vulnerabilities, mainly due to recklessness, on multiple occasions, leaving fans and pundits exasperated.

The former India captain is among them.

"You don't always need to score 70 runs in the Powerplay. Even 55-60 runs would have been a good platform. But the reckless approach of the Indian batters led to their downfall in Ahmedabad," Gavaskar warned.

Having lost the first big battle in Super 8, India will now need big wins -- against Zimbabwe in Chennai on Thursday and the West Indies in Kolkata on Sunday to stand a chance to make the semi-finals.

India, of course, will start as favourites in both games. But overconfidence and recklessness could kill their campaign.