Mumbai, Feb 25: Team India will lock horns with a resilient Zimbabwe outfit, reeling from a heavy 107-run defeat to West Indies, and hope to record a huge victory to get their ICC Men's T20 World Cup semifinal hopes back on track in the crucial clash at the MA Chidambaram Stadium, Chepauk, in Chennai on Thursday.
It is the first time in 24 years that an Indian team will be facing the African nation in an international game in any format in India after the two sides played an ODI in Guwahati in 2002, which India had won.
The match will also be the first time India will be facing Zimbabwe in a T20I in India and also the first T20I for Zimbabwe in India after facing Afghanistan in the ICC Men's T20 World Cup match in 2016 at Nagpur's VCA Stadium.
Net run rate a major concern
What makes this contest critical from an Indian perspective is the margin of victory, which needs to be massive either by runs or wickets so that they can get their poor net run rate (NRR) of -3.80 to healthy levels.
The humiliating 76-run defeat to South Africa in Ahmedabad had done immense damage to India's net run rate, and the game against Zimbabwe assumes significance in that regard.
Top order struggles
India's problems begin right at the top of the batting order, with the flamboyant Abhishek Sharma woefully out of form with 15 runs from four matches at an average of 3.75 and strike rate of 75, performing way below the high standards he has set for himself.
Abhishek's struggles have come against off-spinners like Pakistan's Salman Agha in the tournament, with the ball going away from his hitting arc.
He will have to figure out a way to work around his natural game and perhaps look to spend some time in the middle to get bat on ball and grind it out to get the much-needed confidence back.
Not just Abhishek, even Tilak Varma will have to get his groove back up the order and shore up his strike rate, which is currently hovering at 118. Abhishek's lack of form may be the reason for Varma's change of approach, but a strike rate of 118 is too less for a player coming in at that position and especially in the powerplay overs.
Skipper Suryakumar Yadav has been among the runs but far from his fluent best, with his strike rate of 127 far below his career strike rate of 161, which can do wonders for India in the crucial middle overs.
Shivam Dube has been lending a tremendous amount of impetus in the late overs for India, while Hardik Pandya's power-hitting will be crucial.
Sanju Samson may be included if the team management wishes to upset the Zimbabwe bowling attack and thwart the off-spinners with a left-right combination in the opening slot.
However, Samson's lack of form is a bigger concern if he is drafted into the playing XI in such a big game in the context of India's semifinal hopes hanging on the line.
Pitch and bowling dynamics
The Chepauk surface will be a solid one aiding batting, and the same surface used in the Afghanistan-New Zealand game is likely for the match and, with Zimbabwe's spinners Graeme Cremer, Sikandar Raza and Ryan Burl not in the same league as other world-class spinners featuring in the event, Indian batters should not face much trouble.
On the bowling front, India have been a well-oiled machine despite one bad game against the Proteas in Ahmedabad, with the incomparable Jasprit Bumrah leading the way.
Bumrah had the South Africans at 20/3 before the rest of the bowling had an off day to let them reach 187.
With Zimbabwe having five right-handers in their top seven, left-arm spinner Axar Patel is likely to feature in the clash, with Varun Chakravarthy, Arshdeep Singh and Pandya forming the rest of the mix.
Squads
India: Suryakumar Yadav (c), Abhishek Sharma, Tilak Varma, Sanju Samson, Shivam Dube, Ishan Kishan, Hardik Pandya, Arshdeep Singh, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj, Varun Chakravarthy, Kuldeep Yadav, Axar Patel, Washington Sundar, Rinku Singh.
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Zimbabwe: Sikandar Raza (c), Brian Bennett, Ryan Burl, Graeme Cremer, Bradley Evans, Clive Madande, Tinotenda Maposa, Tadiwanashe Marumani, Wellington Masakadza, Tony Munyonga, Tashinga Musekiwa, Blessing Muzarabani, Dion Myers, Richard Ngarava, Ben Curran.
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