Shoaib Akhtar Rips Into Hardik Pandya, Shivam Dube For India’s T20 World Cup Defeat

Shoaib Akhtar has criticized Hardik Pandya, Shivam Dube and rest of the Indian bowling attack for their poor display against South Africa in the T20 World Cup 2026 Super 8s clash. The Men in Blue lost the match by 76 runs, their biggest loss in tournament history by the margin of runs, and second biggest defeat in T20Is overall, failing to chase the daunting 188-run target set by the Proteas at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad this past Sunday.

India now lies in a precarious spot regarding qualification to the semi-finals, particularly thanks to their terrible Net Run Rate (NRR) stemming from this record defeat. 

Shoaib Akhtar Tears Into Indian Bowlers

Speaking on Tapmad, Shoaib Akhtar stated that Hardik Pandya and Shivam Dube couldn’t intimidate batsmen and that the Indian bowling attack had been exposed.

“Indian bowling has been exposed. If you look at Varun, whose strength is bowling at 97-98 kmph, he was clocking 94. And when he came into the attack, he was hit for a no-look six by Dewald Brevis. Indian bowling got exposed today. Hardik and Shivam Dube were bowling at around 120 kmph.”

“It’s not as if they are Malcolm Marshall, someone who would intimidate you. If you deploy them in the death overs, such a counterattack from the Proteas is inevitable. Pandya gave away 45 runs today,” he added.

The pitch appeared to be rather slow-ish in Ahmedabad, and early on, Jasprit Bumrah and Arshdeep Singh had dealt blows in the opening overs.

However, the bowling attack completely let go of the match in the middle overs, when David Miller and Dewald Brevis were firing. Pandya, Dube and even Varun Chakaravarthy, all were ineffective, conceding 187 runs in 20 overs.

This failure to capitalize after a solid start has brought much criticism towards them in recent days.

Can India Still Qualify For T20 WC Semi-Finals?

India can still qualify for the ICC T20 World Cup 2026 semi-finals, but there are interesting equations in play.

First and foremost, they need to win both of their remaining games, which are against Zimbabwe and West Indies. However, that very likely will not be enough.

India also need to hope for South Africa to win against these teams as well, which would then see them make it through at the second spot behind the Proteas.

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