T20 World Cup India vs Zimbabwe: Captain Rohit Sharma and team ready to fire on all cylinders | Cricket News

MELBOURNE: Skipper Rohit Sharma will feast on a Zimbabwean bowling attack in his bid to play an innings that has long been in a must-win match of the T20 World Cup Sunday here.
With Virat Kohli in torrid form and other top-order batsmen like KL Rahul and Suryakumar Yadav also each playing impactful knocks, the Indian captain (74 runs in 4 matches) is in line to play one of his little gems on ‘ a ground where he scored several white ball hundreds.
Rohit played some good shots but save the match against Netherlands, he didn’t shoot much in other matches. He’s too good a player not to get those booming sixes going.
Exactly two weeks back, the MCG witnessed an epic Indo-Pak clash and an innings of a lifetime from Kohli, but the game against Zimbabwe is no less important as a win will seal the path to the last four stages open.

In that context, the match against Zimbabwe is a must-win game for the Indian team, who are runaway favorites to bump Regis Chakabva’s side whose campaign started in style but declined towards the end.
Zimbabwe’s batting has not exactly fired and against the current Indian attack, it would be difficult for them to put up a great performance as Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Arshdeep Singh and Mohammed Shami were on the money.
The only man in the Indian bowling attack who would expect to put in a batting performance like he has so far is R Ashwin, who has been steady but not extraordinary.
A win will put India at the top of Group 2, but a loss could pave the way for Pakistan, who will advance to the semi-finals if they beat Bangladesh in their last super 12 match with a better net run rate.

South Africa, currently placed in second position with five points, will also make it with a win against the Netherlands, but if they lose and Pakistan win, the latter will progress to the last four along with India.
If India finish on top, they will face either England or Australia in the semi-finals.
If England win against Sri Lanka on Saturday, India will travel to Adelaide to meet Jos Buttler’s men, but if Sri Lanka win, the Men In Blue will have to travel to Sydney to meet Australia, who would sneak into the last four. Stadium.
While the Indian team did not tinker much with the batting order, Axar Patel was dropped against South Africa due to the multiple left-handers in their line-up.
With Craig Ervine, Sean Ervine, Ryan Burl and Sean Williams in the Zimbabwean batting line-up, there is a possibility that team management may again use Deepak Hooda in the line-up like the Protea match.
However, the biggest threat to India will be Pakistan-born Sikandar Raza, who is in the middle of a dream 2022 season and will be keen to end the tournament on a high.
The other option would be to use Harshal Patel, the second seam bowling all-rounder, who could be used to maintain the solidity of the lower middle order.
The reason why Yuzvendra Chahal, a bowler of tremendous caliber, is not played is because team management does not want the tail to be longer than it already is at present.
But considering that India was, in all likelihood, facing England in the semi-final, Chahal could have been used as he has a good match record against the English batsmen.
Zimbabwe and India have never met in T20 World Cups over the years, but a recent white-ball tour of the African nation certainly gave the coaching staff enough data to figure out their strategy.
Although it was an ODI tour and India’s top T20 players did not feature in that series, the core of the Zimbabwe team is the same.
Had they won against the Netherlands, they could still have had an outside chance of staying relevant in the competition.
But Zimbabwe have done one thing in this T20 World Cup and that is act as party poopers for Pakistan, who are on the brink of elimination with South Africa facing the Netherlands in their final match .
The average par score in this T20 World Cup is in the 155 to 160 range, but India’s batting order will look to put up an impressive display in case they bat first and reach close to 200 runs.
While India have won three out of four matches, what Rohit and Rahul are keen to do is give the team a power-packed start in the Powerplay overs, which will automatically give them an advantage in the semi-finals.
India: Rohit Sharma (captain), KL Rahul (vice-captain), Virat Kohli, Suryakumar Yadav, Hardik Pandya, Dinesh Karthik (wk), Axar Patel, R Ashwin, Mohammed Shami, Arshdeep Singh, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Rishabh PantDepak Hooda, Harshal Patel, Yuzvendra Chahal.
Zimbabwe: Regis Chakabva (captain), Sean Williams, Sean Ervine, Craig Ervine, Sikandar Raza, Tendai Chatara, Luke Jongwe, Brad Evans, Wesley Madhevere, Wellington Masakdazka, Tony Munyonga, Richard Ngarava, Blessing Muzarabani, Multon Shumba.
Match Start: 1:30 PM (IST)