Former England skipper Michael Vaughan took a very sharp dig at the South Africa National Cricket Team after the conclusion of ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2026 as he called them “stupidest team” of the tournament. Vaughan mentioned that if South Africa had lost their match against West Indies at Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad then India’s chances of reaching the semi-final would’ve been very less.
In the Super 8 stage, South Africa defeated India by a huge margin of 76 runs which put major pressure on Men in Blue to even sustain in the campaign. India then won their next two matches and Proteas won all their matches in the group stage following which both the teams advanced to the semis. Reflecting on the tournament afterwards, Vaughan suggested that South Africa should have been more strategic and should have attempted to knock India out earlier.
“I tell you, who I think is the stupidest team of the tournament? South Africa. Because if South Africa had allowed the West Indies to beat them in the Super 8s, India would have been knocked out. I’m just saying – if they had cleared them out, the juggernaut that was coming would have stopped,” Vaughan said on the Stick to Cricket podcast.
“By winning that game, they allowed the juggernaut to go on. India then beat Zimbabwe, then the West Indies in a kind of quarterfinal, and then England. South Africa had to play Zimbabwe next, and they even rested three players for that match,” he added.
“Look, these things shouldn’t happen and usually don’t happen. I’m just saying that if you want to win a World Cup, the best way is to eliminate the best team early,” Vaughan said.
