Former India player Aakash Chopra has questioned India’s team selection in their T20 World Cup 2026 loss against South Africa as well. He also stated that Axar Patel needn’t have been appointed the vice-captain if he wasn’t a fixed choice in the playing XI.

In a video shared on his YouTube channel, ‘Aakash Chopra,’ he said, “Where were we left behind? The first thing that comes to my mind is, what team are we playing? You have appointed Axar Patel the vice-captain. If he is your team’s vice-captain, why isn’t he a part of the team? You needn’t have made him the vice-captain. You made him sit out in the last match. Never mind, as Washi hadn’t played for such a long time, and you played him since you were playing against the Netherlands, but you made him sit out against South Africa. You said it’s becoming a negative match-up as there are three left-handers in the opposition.”

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“Sir, two of the three left-handers bat in the top three, and both were out in two overs. We have six left-handers among our eight batters, and South Africa said they would play Keshav Maharaj because he is their main bowler. They said they won’t make Keshav sit out because he is important. For you, your vice-captain is not important. How is that okay?” Chopra shared again.

However, Aakash Chopra also added that Suryakumar Yadav mentioned at the toss that he wanted to bat first, showing that India weren’t prepared to chase in their T20 World Cup 2026 match against South Africa.

“The second thing that comes to my mind is that Surya was asked at the toss, although he didn’t win it, which is okay, but he wanted to bat first, which means they hadn’t made up their mind to chase, and didn’t have that much confidence as well,” he said.

“I am thinking, why do we bowl first after winning the toss in bilaterals? When South Africa came in front, our mindset was that we should get to bat first, that we don’t bat under pressure, and instead bowl under pressure. If that’s the case, do the same thing in bilaterals as well. I don’t think we were prepared for this,” Aakash Chopra concluded.