Zimbabwe captain Sikandar Raza has no fitness concerns ahead of the must-win Super 8 clash with India in the T20 World Cup. All-rounder Ryan Burl dismissed any doubts and confirmed that Raza is “100%” fit despite suffering the knock against the West Indies.
Raza was hit in the process Zimbabwe’s previous campaign against the West Indieswhich has sparked speculation about his availability for the high-stakes clash. But Burl made it clear that keeping Raza out of a big match – especially against India – was never really an option.
“Sikandar Raza is playing 100%. Good luck telling him he won’t play against India. Yes, he will play,” Burl said at the pre-match press conference.
Zimbabwe will take on India in a crucial Group 1 Super 8 match at the MA Chidambaram Stadium on Thursday, with both sides desperate for a win after suffering defeats in their previous matches. A loss could seriously dent both teams’ semi-final hopes.
Burl acknowledged the scale of the challenge, especially playing India in front of a partisan home crowd, but pointed out that the pressure of expectation can weigh heavily on the hosts as well.
“Yes, it’s a must-win game for us, but it’s also a must-win game for India. Obviously, there’s a lot at stake because it’s a World Cup game and if we’re going to the semi-finals, we both want to look at winning tomorrow’s game,” Burl said.
“Obviously we don’t play India a lot so it’s something we’ve been really looking forward to. Playing India in India is a challenge in itself. They’ve obviously got the home ground advantage, but more pressure from both teams needed to win tomorrow’s game.”
“Pressure does funny things to teams. And with it being the World Cup, there’s added pressure. We hope to get our process done tomorrow,” he added.
Zimbabwe are banking on their bowling depth to counter India’s explosive batting unit led by skipper Suryakumar Yadav. Burl emphasized the importance of back-to-back matches and tactical flexibility in Chennai conditions.
“We’re doing a lot of homework. Obviously, India have the firepower to go really hard in the powerplay and if they don’t lose wickets, they have guys who can go hard all the time. Obviously we have a lot of options (in bowling) and that’s probably one of the strengths of the Zimbabwe line-up.
“We’ve got a left-arm seamer, a right-arm seamer, a couple of leg-spinners, a spinner and a left-armer. So we’ve got quite a lot of depth and I think it’s probably just going to be what the matchups are depending on the batsmen that are out there and of course the combinations that we’re looking for,” he explained.
Burl reflected on his heavy loss to the West Indies and insisted the team had moved on and learned valuable lessons from the setback.
“To be honest, I think we can only take positives from that defeat. It sounds weird, but we really hadn’t had a bad game up until that point. So there’s a huge learning curve.”
“And when I say that, obviously India also had a bad game against South Africa. So we’re both trying to bounce back and there’s no better place to do that than tomorrow,” he said.
With Raza declared fully fit and the stakes high, Zimbabwe head to Chennai believing they can turn pressure into opportunity against a host side equally determined to stay alive in the tournament.
T20 World Cup | T20 World Cup Schedule | T20 World Cup Points Table | T20 World Cup Videos | Cricket News | Live Score
– The end
Issued by:
Saurabh Kumar
Published on:
February 25, 2026
