India’s players have had very little practice at coping with defeat of late, which is why Sunday’s heavy loss to South Africa has caused a flicker of unease. The unbeaten run across ICC white-ball events – 17 matches in a row – has gone, and the equation in a home World Cup suddenly feels a touch complicated.
First the bare facts. India were bundled out for 111, South Africa chased the target with time – and wickets – to spare, and the defending champions now need to beat Zimbabwe in Chennai on Thursday to stay in charge of their own semi-final chances. If West Indies defeat South Africa in the earlier game, net run-rate comes into play. Not ideal, but not panic stations either.
Batting coach Sitanshu Kotak, speaking at Chepauk on Wednesday, kept his message simple. “See, obviously, World Cup in India, there will be pressure,” he said. “I am a big believer that any international game you play, even I have played some ordinary district game, when you go to bat, you will feel pressure.”
That theme – pressure as a fact of life rather than a monster under the bed – ran through the session. Kotak pointed out that most of the squad have felt knockout intensity during the IPL play-offs. Players such as Abhishek Sharma and Tilak Varma may be short of runs, yet the coaching staff are not reaching for the ejector seat.
“Just because we lost one game and have not got [a good opening] partnership, people talk more about it, but I honestly think they all are good enough to handle that pressure and we have to. If we want to win the World Cup, we have to handle that pressure. If we can’t, then it’s tough.”
There is, of course, a flip-side. India’s batting since the 2024 title win has been built on calculated aggression – 31 victories in 41 matches and three totals north of 250 back that up. When the top order miscues, as it did in Delhi on Sunday, the whole approach can look reckless. Kotak accepts that but is not minded to throw the plan out.
“We will play the same brand of cricket,” Kotak said. “Yes, like I said, sometimes you lose a couple of quick wickets and somebody tried to see off six-eight balls – not defending, but maybe the shot selection or a risk percentage, shots you play. But that’s about it.”
South Africa exposed a rare off-day, nothing more dramatic in his view. “Last game also I think we should take it in a stride that it was the worst game we played in two years. So honestly I feel we should just don’t think about it too much and move ahead.”
Selection tweaks remain possible – conditions in Chennai usually encourage a second spinner, and Kuldeep Yadav is waiting – yet Kotak gave no hint of sweeping changes. The mood in the camp, insiders say, is closer to irritation than insecurity.
A short note on the permutations. Beat Zimbabwe and India are very likely through; lose and they would need the mathematics to fall kindly. Zimbabwe, for their part, have upset large teams before and will lean on their slow bowlers on a surface that can grip. Captain Sikandar Raza called it “a free hit” and that rings true. They have little to lose and a scalp to gain.
From an Indian perspective, the task is more mundane than many headlines suggest: rediscover the middle-overs rhythm, keep the fielding sharp and avoid early clusters of wickets. The basics, really. Kotak summed it up with a shrug: “And I don’t believe that there is anything this team cannot handle. So it’s just, I am personally looking for that momentum. Once we start getting that momentum again, if we do it from tomorrow, I think they will be picking up at the right time. So I am looking at it that way.”
Two years of near-perfection spoiled by one bad night does not make for a crisis, but it has created an unfamiliar scenario. India have earned the right to trust their methods; now they must prove those methods still work when the safety-net has frayed. The players are well aware, and so – one suspects – are Zimbabwe.
