IND vs SA 2025: 'It'll backfire on both Suryakumar and Gambhir' - Former opener slams India’s tactics ahead of 2nd T20I

Robin Uthappa expressed his concerns over India's strategy to make drastic changes in the batting order in the shortest format. India have been in stunning form since Gautam Gambhir took over as head coach after the T20 World Cup triumph last year. They have won 23 out of their 26 completed matches. However, Uthappa feels that the constant chopping and changing could lead to a debacle in the upcoming edition of the T20 World Cup, which starts in February 2026.

In the first T20I against South Africa in Cuttack on Tuesday, the Indian batters struggled to adapt to a spicy surface. Uthappa noted that had Hardik Pandya not scored an unbeaten 59 off 28 balls, India would have finished way below their eventual total of 175/6.

"If this goes south, it'll backfire on both Surya and Gautam Gambhir. And people are anyway gunning for his (Gambhir ) head. You can't go into a World Cup as the defending champions with your main batters not in good form. In the first T20I, Hardik saved the skins out of India's innings. If it wasn't for him, we would have been 30-40 runs off that total and that's a 130. Those things concern me," Uthappa said on his YouTube channel.

The cricketer-turned-commentator warned captain Suryakumar Yadav that overdoing the flexibility within the batting line-up could hamper the team's performance in the future. Uthappa opined that if India loses a few matches heading into the 2026 T20 World Cup, it will not just negatively impact the team's morale, but Suryakumar's performances as a batter will also take a hit.

"Today it's not affecting him because India is winning matches. He's one of the most successful Indian captain right now with an 85 win percentage. But if that drops over the next nine games, then it starts impacting his batting and it starts impacting how he leads on the field as well. India is leading into a World Cup at home where you want to have your main batters in really good form, especially when you are defending champions," he said.

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India and South Africa will lock horns once again on Thursday, December 11, as they play the second T20I in Mullanpur.