India and Zimbabwe out to raise the roof at Chepauk

Blue jerseys on the backs of a teeming crowd along the Walajah Road on Thursday evening will finally not be out of context. Fans in Chennai have embraced every team that has set foot in the city, turning up in tens of thousands even for sweltering afternoon matches. But India are finally in town, with everything riding on their fixture.

For the second World Cup in a row, the locals were meant to be treated to an India-Australia spectacle. But Zimbabwe emphatically struck that out, proving once again that there are no certainties in this format.

Speaking of no certainties, India have reached Chennai with their tag of favourites fast fading, and their batting—unrivaled until the tournament began—is now being seriously questioned. The defeat to South Africa means India can only reach four points at best. There's a possibility where they could be dragged into a three-way tangle for two semifinal spots with NRR being the deciding factor. The decimation in Ahmedabad left them with -3.800, which they need to resuscitate over the next four days. Wins alone won't cut it.

Zimbabwe are now in the same boat, needing two wins and a surge in NRR. Their unbeaten journey through the group stage in Sri Lanka was cut short violently by West Indies in Mumbai. Chennai offers better dimensions in that regard, but there will be the challenge of dew to deal with.

The competitiveness of the Super Eights group has raised the stakes for the 3 PM fixture on Thursday too. West Indies and South Africa will jostle for two crucial points in Ahmedabad, and nearly 2,000 kilometers away in Chennai, India and Zimbabwe will watch on keenly.

When: India vs Zimbabwe, 48th match, Super Eights Group 1, February 26, 7 PM IST

Where: MA Chidambaram Stadium, Chennai

What to expect: Equal-sized square boundaries, with the game to be played on the central pitch (No.5). It's confirmed to be a black soil surface. Chepauk has the worst bowling strike-rate and second-worst bowling average for spinners among the eight venues in this World Cup.

In the two 7 PM matches at the venue, first innings scores have been 200/4 (by Afghanistan) and 196/6 (by USA).

Batting coach Sitanshu Kotak revealed that there have been conversations about changes to mix up the left-handed top-three. Sanju Samson, who batted long and did keeping drills two days out from the fixture, could be an option.

Kotak also confirmed that Rinku Singh had left to attend to his ailing father but was due to return on Wednesday evening. There's still a chance India don't feature him and maintain their batting depth by adding to the heft at the top. With only two left-handers in Zimbabwe's top-order, expect Axar Patel to reclaim his spot too.

Probable XI: Abhishek Sharma, Sanju Samson (wk), Ishan Kishan, Tilak Varma, Suryakumar Yadav (c), Shivam Dube, Hardik Pandya, Axar Patel, Arshdeep Singh, Varun CV, Jasprit Bumrah

"Sikandar Raza is 100% playing. Good luck telling him that he's not going to play against India," Ryan Burl said with a chuckle. The Zimbabwe skipper took a hit to his left palm in the game against West Indies in Mumbai, but is ready to go again.

Zimbabwe could resist the urge to make changes after the big loss in Mumbai, and instead choose to alter their bowling plans. Against West Indies, they used four quicks and just two spinners in Raza and Graeme Cremer. If the opportunity comes up, Raza could throw on leg-spinner Burl against the likes of Suryakumar and Tilak in the middle-overs.

Probable XI: Brian Bennett, Tadiwanashe Marumani (wk), Dion Myers, Ryan Burl, Sikandar Raza (c), Tony Munyonga, Tashinga Musekiwa, Brad Evans, Graeme Cremer, Richard Ngarava, Blessing Muzarabani

Key Stats:

• India average 6.80 for the first wicket in this World Cup—the lowest amongst the 20 teams.
• Brian Bennett is the leading run-getter in T20Is since the start of 2024 with 1748 runs.
• Sikandar Raza averages 16.30 against India in 10 T20Is with a highest score of 46.
• Jasprit Bumrah and Arshdeep Singh are India's top-two wicket-takers in T20 World Cups, with 33 and 32 wickets respectively. India have won 10 of the 11 World Cup fixtures where the two have featured.

Quotes:

"In T20s, we have to be very positive and play the same brand of cricket which has given us success. And that is clearly the way we'll play. There won't be any difference." — India's batting coach Sitanshu Kotak.

"I think we've also got a lot of [bowling] options. And that's probably one of the advantages of the Zimbabwe line-up. We've got [a] left-arm seamer, right-arm seamer. We've got a couple of leg spinners. We've got an off-spinner. We've got a left-arm offie. So, we do have obviously quite a lot of depth. And I think it will probably just come down to what are the match-ups depending on the batters that are out there at the time." — Zimbabwe's Ryan Burl.