IND vs SA: ‘I Don’t Want to Change Unnecessarily’ — Rohit Sharma’s Old Clip Goes Viral After India’s Super 8 Loss to South Africa | WATCH VIDEO

With Team India controversially dropping Axar Patel for the decisive Super 8 clash of T20 World Cup 2026 against South Africa in Ahmedabad, former skipper Rohit Sharma’s verdict on team changes has been doing rounds. A clip of Rohit resurfaced where the veteran asserted that he would not change the playing XI unless he feels it’s genuinely necessary.

Although Axar has been appointed as the vice-captain of Team India, the spin-bowling all-rounder was left out of the XI for Washington Sundar, explaining it as a tactical call. It’s worth noting that Washington Sundar bowled only two wicketless overs for 17 runs and managed a run-a-ball 11 with the bat. With a stiff 188 for the hosts to chase down, they got bowled out for 111 to suffer a huge 176-run defeat.

During an interaction with Star Sports before the 20-team event, here’s what the 38-year-old claimed:

“Mera humesha se yeh mannna tha ki aise changes main tabhi karunga jab mujhe genuinely lagega ki yahan zarurat hai. I don’t want to change unnecessarily and try and disrupt what is not broken. Yeh jo team hai kaafi time se saath mein khela hai. The most important thing for them would be to identify their playing XI and stick to it.” (I always believed that I would make changes if I feel it is genuinely necessary. I don’t want to change unnecessarily and try and disrupt what is not broken. This team has played together for quite some time. The most important thing for them would be to identify their playing XI and stick to it.”

“We know what Washy’s done while he’s been with the Indian team” – Ryan ten Doeschate

Team India’s assistant coach Ryan Ten Doeschate explained the decision to opt for Sundar by saying the below, as quoted by Cricbuzz:

“I don’t think that’s necessarily relevant. You’ve got to look up the makeup of his IPL team. We know what Washy’s done while he’s been with the Indian team and we judge him on that. We thought the majority of the threat was going to come from the left-handers. We wanted to play the extra batter (Rinku Singh), so it left us with one choice between Washington and Axar, and today we chose to go with Washy.”

The defending champions will next face Zimbabwe on February 26, Thursday in Chennai, making it a must-win clash for them.

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