Former India player turned veteran commentator Aakash Chopra has said that Team India headed into the T20 World Cup 2026 slightly underprepared. He also shared that they were preparing to post mammoth totals, which are rarely scored in such mega events as well. Although India won all four of their Group A games in the T20 World Cup 2026, they suffered a 76-run loss against South Africa in their first Super Eight stage Group 1 game as well.
In a video shared on his YouTube channel, ‘Aakash Chopra,’ he said, “Did the Indian team come into this tournament slightly underprepared? Why did I say India weren’t prepared? You are thinking that we came prepared, we didn’t lose even one series, and lost four or five T20Is in total in such a long time. I am saying you weren’t prepared because the kind of cricket you were thinking you would play continuously or would be able to play, that doesn’t happen in the World Cup at all,” Chopra said.
“This is the 10th edition of the World Cup, and if we see the matches between top Test teams, a 200-plus total has been scored only 15 times. 200 runs have never been scored in a semi-final or final to date. So we were doing a different preparation. We were saying we would score 250-275, but that kind of cricket doesn’t happen in the World Cup,” he further added.
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However, Aakash Chopra also stated that he was reminded of Virat Kohli after India’s T20 World Cup 2026 loss against South Africa as well.
“I was reminded of Virat Kohli, who used to come and win games, and that thing was realized a little more after the South Africa match. Of course, we have not chased that big a total to date. So I am not saying we would have chased had Kohli been there,” he said.
“However, Kohli’s truth is that he was unbeaten in the three biggest totals we have chased in T20 World Cup history. So he was that anchor who would actually take the team home. I mean slightly faster than an anchor, but you need somebody who can do a job like that and take the game deep. His absence is felt slightly,” Aakash Chopra concluded.
