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Big picture – Eye on India’s batters
One bad day is more than enough to send you home, if it’s bad enough. India and Zimbabwe have begun their Super Eight campaigns at this T20 World Cup with days of acute badness. Look at their net run rates and weep.
The players and coaching staff won’t be weeping on their way to the MA Chidambaram Stadium on Thursday, but they’ll be keeping an anxious eye on West Indies vs South Africa, which will be played earlier on Thursday. India will desperately hope that South Africa win, and Zimbabwe that West Indies win. That result could have a massive bearing on their semi-finals chances.
But that match won’t be in their control. What will be is their own performances, starting with this one. Neither can afford to lose.
India could break every conceivable record, and perform feats of previously unimagined skill and athleticism at this T20 World Cup, but none of it will matter if they don’t win it. Such is the level of expectation they brought into this tournament – a level so scary because it was both excessive and realistic. They have been that good at this format.
They have been much less good at this World Cup, though, even before the shock of their defeat to South Africa. Their batters, in particular, have struggled in ways that were inconceivable before the tournament began.
And it is here that Zimbabwe will sense their strongest chance against an India line-up that should, on paper, beat them nine times out of ten. If Blessing Muzarabani and his new-ball colleagues – Sikandar Raza, bowling his heterodox offspin, could be one of them – can force just enough early error, and if those errors beget chances, they could bring this contest to life.
India LWWWW (last five completed T20Is, most recent first)
Zimbabwe LWWWL
In the spotlight – Jasprit Bumrah and Tadiwanashe Marumani
Jasprit Bumrah’s 3 for 15 against South Africa perfectly fit a painful pattern over recent months, when he has seemed fated to deliver his most magical spells, across formats, in defeat. He has had an incredible tournament – average of 9.85, economy rate of 5.30 – and it’s to him that India will look in this situation where they cannot afford any missteps.
Tadiwanashe Marumani has made a strong impression at this tournament without putting up a headline-grabbing display. Four visits to the crease have brought him scores of 21, 35, 34 and 14 at an overall strike rate of 157.57, and his daring strokeplay in the powerplay – his reverse-sweeping has been a joy in particular – has allowed Brian Bennett to drop anchor at the other end. Zimbabwe captain Sikandar Raza, interviewed by ESPNcricinfo, has tipped Marumani to win a Player-of-the-Match award at some point in this World Cup. Could it happen against India?
Team news – Will Axar or Kuldeep play?
Rinku Singh, who flew home to attend a family emergency, is expected to rejoin his team-mates on Wednesday evening in Chennai, and be available for selection. He is, however, one of the candidates to make way – Tilak Varma could be the other – should India look to bring a third right-hand batter into their top eight in the form of Sanju Samson. Axar Patel is likely to return as well, displacing Washington Sundar against a predominantly right-handed Zimbabwe line-up. And at a ground where fast bowlers have struggled through the tournament, India could try and find a way of bringing in Kuldeep Yadav.
India (probable): 1 Abhishek Sharma, 2 Sanju Samson, 3 Ishan Kishan (wk), 4 Suryakumar Yadav (capt), 5 Shivam Dube, 6 Hardik Pandya, 7 Rinku Singh/Tilak Varma, 8 Axar Patel, 9 Arshdeep Singh, 10 Varun Chakravarthy, 11 Jasprit Bumrah
When left-arm seamer Richard Ngarava returned from injury against West Indies, he replaced left-arm fingerspinner Wellington Masakadza in Zimbabwe’s attack. Masakadza looks likely to stay on the bench given the number of left-hand batters in India’s line-up.
Zimbabwe (probable): 1 Tadiwanashe Marumani (wk), 2 Brian Bennett, 3 Dion Myers, 4 Ryan Burl, 5 Sikandar Raza (capt), 6 Tony Munyonga, 7 Tashinga Musekiwa, 8 Brad Evans, 9 Graeme Cremer, 10 Blessing Muzarabani, 11 Richard Ngarava
For long considered the ground where spinners come to party in T20s, Chepauk has flipped the script at this World Cup. It has been the best batting ground of the tournament in terms of both
average and strike rate, and for spin bowlers, it sits in the
bottom three for both average and strike rate. And it has been a complete
struggle for the quicks, who have found it the most difficult ground of the tournament both in terms of wicket-taking and containment. This is likely an outcome of the outfield getting relaid after IPL 2025, and no domestic or local matches being played at this ground through 2025-26, where other venues have hosted matches on end-of-season pitches.
A black-soil surface will be in play on Thursday, the same one where New Zealand chased down 183 in just 17.5 overs against Afghanistan. A clear, warm evening is expected, with temperatures in the mid-to-late 20s (Celsius).
“Definitely. We’ll play the same brand of cricket. Yes, sometimes you lose a couple of wickets and somebody tries to see off six to eight balls – not defending, but maybe the shot selection, you play [low] risk-percentage shots. But otherwise, [in] T20 game, we have to be very positive and play the same brand of cricket which has given us success.”
India batting coach Sitanshu Kotak
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