New Delhi [India], February 24 (ANI): Former Indian cricketer Mohammad Kaif believes India lost the first Super 8 fixture against South Africa of the ongoing T20 World Cup between the 7th and 15th over.

He noted that India did not use ace speedster Jasprit Bumrah in that phase to break David Miller and Dewald Brevis's partnership, which took the game away from the hosts.

Kaif also stated that former Indian skipper Rohit Sharma never used Bumrah like this and highlighted that Hitman always preferred to bring back Bumrah after the power-play in the middle overs to get crucial wickets.

'We lost the match between the 7th and 15th over. You used Bumrah's two overs early and kept the remaining two for the death. But Rohit Sharma never used Bumrah like this,' Kaif said on his YouTube channel.

'He bowled one over in the middle to break a partnership. There is a big gap between his spells. There is no bigger match-winner in this team than Bumrah. They need to bowl him for just one over in the powerplay, and then get him to bowl the 11th or 12th,' he added.

Bumrah bowled two overs in the power-play, scalping important wickets of Quinton de Kock and Ryan Rickelton. Apart from Bumrah and Arshdeep Singh, all the Indian bowlers took a hammering from Proteas batters.

Bumrah was brought back into the attack in the 17th over of the innings; till then, the Proteas were firmly in control at 152-5 with Tristan Stubbs on the crease.

South Africa snapped India's 12-match unbeaten streak at the ICC Men's T20 World Cup as they handed the defending champions a 76-run defeat in Ahmedabad on Sunday.

This was India's second-biggest defeat by runs in all T20 Internationals behind the 80-run defeats against New Zealand in Wellington in 2019. In T20 World Cup history, India suffered their biggest defeat.

India's loss of 76 runs against South Africa has tightened their qualification scenarios for the semi-finals. The Men in Blue will have to win the remaining two games with a good net run rate to keep their hopes of defending the T20 World Cup alive. (ANI)