ICC T20 World Cup | Bruised India eye redemption in must-win clash vs Zimbabwe

Chennai: One defeat doesn’t make a good team bad. But that one loss alone has the potential to derail a dream. That’s the situation a battered Indian team finds itself in right now, and they’ll be itching to prove the humbling by South Africa was just an aberration when they take on Zimbabwe in a must-win Super Eights encounter of the ICC T20 World Cup here on Thursday.

Right from the road to the 2024 T20 World Cup in the Americas, where the Indians lifted the trophy for the second time by going undefeated in the tournament, till the bruising 76-run loss against South Africa in Ahmedabad on Sunday, the Men In Blue have been a cut above the rest in the shortest format.

They were picking wins for fun — the defeat against South Africa was just their seventh in 46 T20Is post the 2024 World Cup — thanks to their batters in marauding form, with four of them in the top-10 rankings list, and beautifully complemented by their all-round bowling attack. 

Such was their dominance, they were the favourites to win a record third trophy. But what has to go wrong has gone horribly wrong for the Indians in the marquee event, and they now stand on the precipice of a disaster. However, hope is still not lost, but to keep that flame burning, they need to find instant solutions to their batting troubles, starting with an equally smarting Zimbabwe at the MA Chidambaram Stadium.

The problem for India begins from the top with their World’s No. 1 T20 batter Abhishek Sharma struggling to buy a run. In the four matches he has played, he’s gotten out for a duck on three occasions, with a highest score of 15. Oppositions have found an antidote to negate his pulverising hitting, and the 25-year-old, swimming in unchartered territory, has struggled to find a cure. Sadly, time is running out, and he really needs to get his bearing right against Zimbabwe.

Not just Abhishek, but the rest of the top and middle order needs to stand up and deliver. Loaded with left-handers, the Indian line-up wears a predictable look, and opposition bowlers have tied them down with the help of finger spinners. The Indian think-tank, mystified by the batting failures on the biggest stage, has offered enough indication of shaking things up for the crunch game.

In order to break the left-handed monotony, right-handed Sanju Samson is set to return to the playing XI, but where he bats is a mystery. Would Samson, a natural opener, play in his usual position, which means either Kishan or Abhishek dropping a spot down? Or will the keeper-batter play at one-drop with Tilak Varma (left-hander) and skipper Suryakumar swapping positions from their No. 3 and No. 4 positions based on the situation? The answers will be known on Thursday.

The game could also see the return of vice-captain Axar Patel after being benched in the previous two games. His inclusion should add cover to ace spinner Varun Chakravarthy, playing in his home ground, should he have a bad day like he did against South Africa.     

Underdogs Zimbabwe, who stunned the cricketing world when they beat Australia in a group affair and qualified for the Super Eights at the heavyweights’ expense, got a reality check when a resurgent West Indies took them to the cleaners in Mumbai on Monday. All the joie de vivre suddenly dissipated in the muggy air of Mumbai.

Their semifinal hope, just like India’s, is hanging by the slimmest of threads. They’ll be hoping to cling onto it a little longer by causing the shocker of mammoth proportions. India, with their egos bruised and pride battered, know they need the perfect game — which they haven’t produced so far — to cut Zimbabwe off and keep themselves afloat. And they’ll be looking to do that by posting a massive win which is non-negotiable.

The squads: India: Suryakumar Yadav (c), Abhishek Sharma, Tilak Varma, Sanju Samson, Shivam Dube, Ishan Kishan, Hardik Pandya, Arshdeep Singh, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj, Varun Chakravarthy, Kuldeep Yadav, Axar Patel, Washington Sundar, Rinku Singh.

Zimbabwe: Sikandar Raza (c), Brian Bennett, Ryan Burl, Graeme Cremer, Bradley Evans, Clive Madande, Tinotenda Maposa, Tadiwanashe Marumani, Wellington Masakadza, Tony Munyonga, Tashinga Musekiwa, Blessing Muzarabani, Dion Myers, Richard Ngarava, Ben Curran.