India set sights on semis as Raza-led Zimbabwe hope for a historic upset

t’s almost the business end of the T20 World Cup with just one game left for most of the teams and yet we await the semi-finalists. Such has been the intensity of the tournament, such has been the fortunes, and the battle for the prized final four still continues.

As we talk about the fate and the furies, the Men in Blue step on the warpath to lock horns with the formidable Zimbabweans who have already produced a great upset earlier in the group stages, edging past Pakistan and could have easily pulled off another against Bangladesh.

India will be coming into this contest on the back of a closely fought win, thanks to some electric bowling and a resilient display of nerves in a nail-biting encounter against Bangladesh. Much to the relief of the Men in Blue, KL Rahul was back amongst runs while Virat Kohli conjured another reckoning display to propel India to a significant pedestal.

Zimbabwe, on the contrary, would be coming to this battle on the back of two consecutive defeats, losing to Bangladesh in a chaotic last-ball thriller while being thrashed by Netherlands in a lopsided encounter. However, going by their track record, they have a couple of big names in Sikandar Raza and Craig Ervine who can actually be the game-changers on any given day.

In this David versus Goliath clash, India will be hopeful of their captain getting those numbers up front while also pinning their faith on the hard-hitting middle order. Despite a few bumps for the batters up early in the innings, the Indian bowlers have pulled off a phenomenal job so far. Led by Bhuvneshwar Kumar in terms of economy and Arshdeep Singh in terms of wickets claimed, the Indian pace unit would be desperate to dish out another masterclass as the fate of the semis hangs in balance.

Venue Watch:

India played their tournament opener against Pakistan at the MCG and that contest would already have provided a fair idea of how the surface is going to act in this all-important encounter. A total of 20 T20I matches have been played here so far and only 8 of them have been won batting first. With 11 wins chasing, that includes, India’s victory against Pakistan, the team batting second would have a slight advantage over their counterparts. The average first innings score in a T20 at the MCG is 141 while the average score while chasing is 128. Batting on this surface tends to get tough, compounded by those overwhelming boundaries.

Key Player Battles:

Virat Kohli versus Sikandar Raza: The last time India met Zimbabwe in an ODI, it was Raza who almost pulled off history on the back of a phenomenal century. However, Virat Kohli wasn’t in the equation back then as he was on that all-important break that totally reshaped his journey. With 220 runs Kohli tops the chart for the highest run-scorers in the latest edition of the tournament while Sikandar Raza is Zimbabwe’s highest run-scorer and wicket-taker in the same. With 9 wickets from 7 games, he can prove to be a steep challenge for the former Indian captain whose recent innings have been nothing but poetry in motion.

Rohit Sharma versus Richard Ngarava: The Indian captain has somehow struggled to get the runs on the board but knowing his calibre, he is an exceptional striker of the ball and in surfaces like that of MCG where there has been some significant drift early in the contest, it would be important from India’s perspective to have Rohit fire at the top. Richard Ngarava has shown decent form so far in the ongoing tournament, claiming 8 wickets. He has used the bounce on the Australian pitches pretty nicely and whipped out a handful of important short balls. The simplest reason why this is going to be a crackerjack of a battle is because of Rohit Sharma’s penchant for those short balls as he is effortlessly brilliant in playing the pull and the hooks.

Arshdeep Singh versus Sean Williams: The rookie left-arm Indian seamer has been a boon to the Indian fans, claiming wickets in pairs, as he leads the charts for being the highest wicket-taker in the Blue threads in the ongoing tournament. With 9 wickets at an economy rate of 8.25, Arshdeep has been in blazing form and he would be hoping to continue with his exploits early in the innings. Sean Williams, on the contrary, has managed to put in a resilient shift, hammering 144 runs at a decent strike rate of 121. Given Williams’ proclivity towards playing pace, this will be a fine match-up.

Match Details:

India vs Zimbabwe

MCG

6th November 2022

1:30 PM

Squads:

India:

Rohit Sharma (captain), Lokesh Rahul, Virat Kohli, Suryakumar Yadav, Hardik Pandya, Dinesh Karthik, Rishabh Pant, Axar Patel, Yuzvendra Chahal, Ravichandran Ashwin, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Arshdeep Singh, Harshal Patel, Deepak Hooda, Mohammed Shami

Zimbabwe: Craig Ervine (c), Ryan Burl, Regis Chakabva, Tendai Chatara, Bradley Evans, Luke Jongwe, Clive Madande, Wessely Madhevere, Wellington Masakadza, Tony Munyonga, Blessing Muzarabani, Richard Ngarava, Sikandar Raza, Milton Shumba, Sean Williams