
What an awful display of batting we have had from the Indian batting unit in their Super 8 curtain raiser against South Africa. India’s batting issues were exposed in today’s game after being covered by individual brilliance during the group stages. The Men in Blue cannot go the distance and something has to change and the change has to come before the ship sinks.
South Africa came good in both the bowling and batting department. It seemed as if they were playing to take revenge against India for the defeat in the last World Cup final. Despite losing early wickets, their middle order batsmen managed to revive their innings and took South Africa to 187/7 at the end of 20 overs.

Meanwhile, the Indian batters couldn’t sustain the pace and heat of the Proteas. They were just not prepared and were shocked about what stuck them. After winning four games in a row, India now look like an ordinary beatable side. Indian team has been reduced to 5 down for a mere score of 51 runs against the Proteas.
Let us take a look at how fans and netizens have reacted to India’s batting performance so far.
Kya Abhishek Sharma sach mai slogger hai ? #INDvsSA
— Cricket Kalesh (@crickalesh) February 22, 2026
Abhishek Sharma should have played with sensibility today as we were 2 wickets down early but the way he was trying to hit the ball it was clear he would not stay on the crease for long time,we needed confident Abhishek which seems to lack #T20WorldCup2026 #T20WorldCup #INDvsSA
— Rani💛🌻🦋 (@KumariRani61340) February 22, 2026
Our worst fears have come true. India's batting lineup never clicked in this World Cup. And against a quality side today, our batting has been completely exposed. All of a sudden, India looks like a beatable side!!#T20WorldCup2026 #CricketTwitter #INDvsSA
— Dr. Shubham Misra शुभम मिश्रा🧠⚛️🇮🇳🇺🇸 (@Shubham_Neuro) February 22, 2026
A lot of fans have questioned Abhishek Sharma’s selection despite his unsatisfactory performances. Some users have also labelled him to be a ‘blind slogger’. Fans also believe that India’s batting lineup has been exposed against a quality side like South Africa.
Washington - sky plan should be to take game this deep with good strike rate...They should target 57 in next 5 without loosing wicket and then 100 in last 10 overs#T20WorldCup2026 #indvssa
— Uneeb Panjutha (@uneebpanjutha) February 22, 2026
Some users have urged Suryakumar Yadav and Washington Sundar to take it deep and slowly build a partnership which is the need of the hour.
Tilak Varma has been terrible in this T20 World Cup. He scored only 106 runs in 5 innings with a very low strike rate of around 120. He struggles against spin, unable to accelerate, and today 1(2) vs SA edged off Jansen like a walking wicket. His scores so far: 25 off 16, 25…
— GillTheWill (@GillTheWill77) February 22, 2026
According to Suryakumar Yadav, you cannot question place of Tilak Varma in India's XI who is batting at strike rate below 130 since Jan 2025 but they can definitely drop Axar Patel who is India's vice-captain at this world cup & also had great great impact in India's WC 2024 & CT…
— Rajiv (@Rajiv1841) February 22, 2026
Netizens have lashed out on the selection of Tilak Varma who has been very disappointing at the World Cup so far and why he was preferred over Axar Patel. Fans believe his slow style of play and low strike rate is killing India’s momentum in such high voltage games.



