Gautam Gambhir Goes For Unconventional Tactic In 3rd T20I vs South Africa. This Happens Next

Indian cricket team head coach Gautam Gambhir came up with a stunning strategy that handed his side a massive advantage during the third T20I encounter against South Africa on Sunday. South Africa struggled massively against the Indian bowlers, and although they were not able to register a big total, the batters looked to score big in the final over of the innings. While Hardik Pandya looked all set to bowl the over, Gambhir suddenly sent a message to the team through Sanju Samson, and skipper Suryakumar Yadav opted for Kuldeep Yadav instead. The decision caught a lot of people by surprise, but the results were instant. Kuldeep responded with two crucial wickets as South Africa were bundled out for just 117.

Gambhir Asks Sanju To Tell Captain To Give Last Over To Birthday Boy Kuldeep Yadav pic.twitter.com/wkz0xWxBZu

— Akash Kharade (@cricaakash) December 15, 2025

Meanwhile, India captain Suryakumar Yadav admitted he is searching for runs to flow from his bat, but insisted he remains confident in being back to his pristine touch and breaking a lean patch.

In India's seven-wicket win over South Africa at the HPCA Stadium on Sunday, Suryakumar fell for 12, just before the hosts completed the chase with 25 balls to spare and took a 2-1 lead in the five-match series.

“The thing is, I've been batting beautifully in the nets. I'm trying everything that's in my control and when the game comes, when the runs have to come, they'll definitely come. But yes, I'm looking for runs, not out of form, but definitely out of runs,” said Suryakumar in the post-match presentation ceremony.

Asked about the team's turnaround after a 51-run defeat in New Chandigarh, Suryakumar stressed on the importance of returning to fundamentals in preparation for Sunday's clash.

“I think this sport teaches you a lot of things. How you come back into the series is more important and we did the same thing — we wanted to go back to basics, do the same things we were doing in Cuttack, and the results were on our side. See, there was a lot of learning from the game we played in Chandigarh.”

He credited the bowlers' preparation and discipline in friendly bowling conditions for setting up a comfortable victory in Dharamsala. “The bowlers sat together, we had a good team meeting as well. We came for practice sessions and tried to do the same things we did in Cuttack. We went back to basics. We didn't try to do a lot of different things, but I think the basics were very important at that time.”

A win in Lucknow on Wednesday will give India the series win. “I think we'll enjoy it tonight. We'll enjoy the win tonight. We'll sit down tomorrow when we reach Lucknow and then see what happened in this game and talk about that,” concluded Suryakumar.

(With IANS inputs)

Topics mentioned in this article

Gautam Gambhir Sanju Samson Kuldeep Yadav Hardik Pandya India Cricket Team South Africa Cricket Team India vs South Africa 2025, India Cricket