Off-spin on India's mind

A clear pattern has emerged for India at this T20 World Cup, even within their victories. Their batting lineup has developed a significant glitch against off-spin bowling.

So far, India have lost 19 wickets to spin, with 12 of those falling specifically to off-spinners. Six different bowlers have exploited this weakness. Zimbabwe's Sikandar Raza, despite a bruised left palm, will be eager to join that list, having opened the bowling successfully against Australia and Sri Lanka in this tournament.

This represents a peculiar shift. India's batters dominated spin in the two years leading up to the World Cup but have now developed a glaring flaw. The issue is compounded in the Powerplay, where four of the 12 wickets to off-spin have been taken, with openers Abhishek Sharma and Ishan Kishan falling twice each.

India's batting coach, Sitanshu Kotak, acknowledged the planning by opponents: "Obviously we are preparing, we are talking… They will bowl off spinners, pacers that are bowling outside the off-stump… It's not difficult to make that out."

The early setbacks have created deeper problems. Abhishek Sharma, India's primary tone-setter, has been stifled, leading to middle-overs stagnation where Suryakumar Yadav and Tilak Varma have struggled to accelerate. In response, both batters had an extended net session on Tuesday focused on proactive scoring against spin.

While the team maintains that tripping up against spin isn't a major concern, it has sparked internal discussions about the top-order combination. With Abhishek, Kishan, and Varma, India field a left-handed heavy top three that is particularly susceptible to off-spin. Raza is likely to exploit this match-up again.

Kotak hinted at possible changes: "There can be changes, yes… Because there are two lefty openers. No. 3 is [also] left-handed. And opposition is bowling off spinner [at the start]."

Net sessions also saw Sanju Samson have a lengthy batting stint and keeping drills, suggesting potential lineup adjustments. Coaches Gautam Gambhir and Kotak were engaged in prolonged technical discussions with batters.

However, a significant caveat exists. The match is in Chennai at Chepauk, a venue that has been surprisingly unkind to spinners this World Cup, yielding the worst strike-rate (22.3) and second-worst average (30.23) for them.

Zimbabwe's Ryan Burl acknowledged the dual narrative, stating they are aware of both India's batting trend against spin and the venue's tough conditions for spinners, adding that match-ups will dictate their bowling plans.

With both teams needing to repair negative Net Run Rates, the fixture carries added weight. The central subplot remains: will India finally solve their off-spin puzzle, or will Zimbabwe expose it further?