India host Zimbabwe at the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chepauk, Chennai, in their second Super 8 game of the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup on Thursday, February 26. Both teams have lost their opening encounters of the Super 8. India failed with South Africa, and Zimbabwe lost to the West Indies. For India, their loss to South Africa by 77 runs was a shock since they were touted to defend their title quite comfortably. Aiden Markram’s Proteas brought them out of this slumber and forced them to look inwards and make some changes.
India have a lot of thinking to do before this game. One of the first changes they would like to make is drop Arshdeep Singh in favour of Axar Patel. The latter, who is the vice-captain of the team, was left out of the XI against South Africa, even though the match was played on his home turf in Ahmedabad. Patel, who is a handy all-rounder, can add a lot of depth to the Indian squad both with the bat and ball. The pitch in Chennai is expected to aid turn, and hence, Patel’s inclusion becomes a no-brainer for the Indian management. If they fail to win this game, India will not be able to qualify for the semifinals.
Zimbabwe will rely on their captain Sikandar Raza, who comes here on the back of two fine knocks of 45 and 25*. Along with Raza, the likes of Ryan Burl, Brian Bennett and Dion Myers will have to step up with the bat in hand. These players are quite experienced and have a fair idea of how to tackle the challenges sent their way by India. With the ball, Zimbabwe will be keen on continuing with two seamers – Blessing Muzarabani and Richard Ngarava. These players picked up two wickets apiece against the West Indies and appear to be in good form.
Predicted Teams
IND: Abhishek Sharma, Ishan Kishan (wk), Tilak Varma, Suryakumar Yadav (c), Shivam Dube, Hardik Pandya, Rinku Singh, Axar Patel, Varun Chakaravarthy, Kuldeep Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah.
ZIM: Brian Bennett, Tadiwanashe Marumani (wk), Ryan Burl, Sikandar Raza (c), Dion Myers, Tony Munyonga, Tashinga Musekiwa, Wellington Masakadza, Brad Evans, Richard Ngarava, Blessing Muzarabani.
Key Players
Hardik Pandya (IND): All-rounder Hardik Pandya will be tasked with the responsibility of opening the bowling alongside Jasprit Bumrah for India. The seamer has the ability to hit the deck hard and get the ball to seam. With the bat in hand, Pandya walks in to bat lower down the order and can hit the ball a long way. His positioning skills are envied amongst other sloggers in international cricket, especially since he can get under hard-length deliveries. Pandya is the complete package that India need.
Blessing Muzarabani (ZIM): Blessing Muzarabani will be expected to get Zimbabwe off to a good start with the ball. The right-arm seamer can get the ball to move away from southpaws, and hence, it will be quite interesting to see him against the likes of Ishan Kishan and Abhishek Sharma. Both these batters come into this game with poor scores against South Africa, and will be reluctant to use their feet. Muzarabani, who picked up four wickets against Australia, can use his pace to pin them to the pitch and then induce nicks behind the stumps.
Match Prediction
India are the favourites to win. They will be helped by the fact that Zimbabwe are quite inexperienced in the Super 8 stage of this tournament, and come here on the back of a huge loss to the West Indies. This will allow the Indians to get their own campaign back on track after they were decimated by South Africa. Suryakumar Yadav’s men will be in no mood for experimentation in this game, apart from bringing Patel into the side in place of Arshdeep. If India’s batters take responsibility inside the powerplay, they can take the game away from Zimbabwe quickly.
