Home
The defending champions India suffered their heaviest defeat by runs in the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup history. The 76-run loss to South Africa has made the road to semifinal an uphill battle as the hosts’ net run rate (NRR) dropped significantly. As India will now head to Chennai for their must-win clash against Zimbabwe, skipper Suryakumar Yadav said that the brand of cricket India have played won’t change after just one loss. He hopes that India make a strong comeback.
“Hopefully bat well, bowl well and field well. That’s it. We’ll try and keep it simple, play the same brand of cricket which we want to play and nothing changes. I think we’ll come back strong,” Suryakumar said in the post-match presentation.
ALSO READ: Washington Sundar & David Miller involved in heated altercation, umpires intervene; watch video
India were bowled out for 111 in the penultimate over chasing a target of 188. After the loss, India’s coaching staff members Ryan ten Doeschate and Sitanshu Kotak hinted at changes in the playing eleven. A conversation around Sanju Samson may take place. Not just Abhishek Sharma but Tilak Varma has struggled of late too, not scoring at a desired strike rate. Also, Washington Sundar was not impressive playing ahead of Axar Patel.
Surya admitted that the top-order needs to do better in the powerplay overs. He also questioned the approach to go too hard in the powerplay overs.
“My thing is sometimes you’ve got to think, if you’re chasing 180-185, you can’t win the game in the powerplay, but you might lose the game in the powerplay. We lost too many wickets in the powerplay and then we couldn’t have small, small partnerships which we wanted for chasing 180-185, but that’s part of the game. We learn from it, we’ll sit back and then come back stronger,” said the 35-year-old.
India vs Zimbabwe T20I records
India and Zimbabwe have played 13 T20Is against each other. Zimbabwe have three T20Is wins against India. The last time Zimbabwe beat India was in 2024. Chasing a target of 115, India were bowled out for 102. Skipper Raza claimed three wickets and contributed with the bat as well.
The only time they went up against each other in a T20 World Cup fixture was in 2022. India beat Zimbabwe by 71 runs at the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG). Suryakumar scored an unbeaten 61 off 25 balls.
ADVERTISEMENT
