Even before the start of this T20 World Cup, it was almost a given that India would be facing Australia in their penultimate Super Eight-phase game in Chennai on February 26.
Call it a googly or doosra, but the fact is, Australia failed to read Zimbabwe’s wrong’un and got stumped, which turned out to be the actual cause behind their group-phase exit. With the Zimbabwe-Ireland game in Pallekele on Tuesday being a washout and the splitting of points between the two teams, India will be taking on Zimbabwe in Chennai next week. Australia are out of the World Cup.
To a fair extent, Zimbabwe’s qualification for the Super Eight from Group B has wrong-footed India as well. All this while, Team India’s planning and preparation was keeping in mind the threat Australia, led by Mitchell Marsh, could pose. Particularly, Australia’s batting group, featuring India’s nemesis Travis Head, Glenn Maxwell, Tim David and Marsh himself.
But all of a sudden, the attention has shifted to Zimbabwe, a side India haven’t really played much against lately. Batting coach Sitanshu Kotak acknowledged that they believed Australia would be one of their opponents in the Super Eight stage, but with that not happening, the team needs to re-strategise.
“We also believed we would play Australia. But when they lost to Zimbabwe, that is when we felt we may have to play the Zimbabweans (in Super Eight).
“We knew it would have been tough for Australia against Sri Lanka too, given the conditions there (in Colombo). However, whether we play Australia or Zimbabwe is not much of a difference to us as we have to try and win the game and do our best against whoever we play,” Kotak explained on Tuesday, the eve of India’s final group-phase game against the Netherlands at the Narendra Modi Stadium.
Yes, on paper, Australia would have certainly posed a more serious threat to India, even though the 2021 champions’ bowling wore a severely depleted look in this World Cup. That way, beating Zimbabwe at home appears to be a lot simpler task for Suryakumar Yadav and his teammates.
But then, the Indian cricketers are not too familiar with most of these current Zimbabwe batters and bowlers. The last time India played against Zimbabwe was in July 2024 in a five-match T20I series in Harare, which the Shubman Gill-led side won 4-1. Mind you, the four matches India had won were only after being humbled by 13 runs in the series opener, where the Gill-led side couldn’t even overhaul Zimbabwe’s 115/9.
From the current Indian squad, only four players were on that Zimbabwe tour — Rinku Singh, Abhishek Sharma, Shivam Dube and Washington Sundar. Abhishek had registered his maiden international ton in that series with a 47-ball 100 in the second T20I.
At present, though, the young and dynamic opener isn’t in great touch as he’s yet to get off the mark in the competition. Abhishek will certainly be having the necessary game time to be back among runs, with Wednesday’s clash against the Netherlands being a pretty good opportunity to regain his rhythm.
The Indian team management, too, isn’t losing sleep over Abhishek’s early dismissals against both the US and Pakistan. But Abhishek and his form aside, Zimbabwe remain a rather unfamiliar territory for most of the other players in the current Indian squad.
Barring skipper Sikandar Raza, who featured in only nine IPL matches for Punjab Kings across IPLs 2023 and 2024, no other teammate of his in the present squad has had that chance.
‘Blessing’ puzzle
Talking of the overall standard, that of the Australians’ is certainly higher than Raza’s team. But this is T20 cricket, where the gap does get narrower between the best in business and the mediocre.
Little did the Australians know that Blessing Muzarabani would take 4/17 and help Zimbabwe upstage them by 23 runs at the Premadasa. Of course, the conditions at the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai are different to that of the Premadasa.
It was learnt that a black-soil pitch will most likely be in use for the February 26 game, which means lesser bounce and a little more help for batters compared to how it would be on a red-soil surface. Here too, against the Dutchmen on Wednesday and South Africa on Sunday, a black-soil wicket is likely to be in use, which should help in the Indian batters’ preparation.
But again, the Indians haven’t played Muzarabani much at all. Having featured in only six matches against India between 2022 and 2024, he remains largely an unknown commodity regardless of the amount of video analysis done on him. The 29-year-old can be nippy and leave batsmen in two minds with his back-of-a-length deliveries, which had troubled Australia.
Muzarabani aside, pacer Brad Evans, who had taken 3/23 against Australia, is one bowler India have never faced. Like Muzarabani, Evans too can confuse batters with the length he bowls.
Quality-wise, India are a good distance ahead of the Raza-led side. However, it’s T20 cricket and, on top of that, India find themselves in a bit of an unfamiliar territory.
