Indian Cricket Team (ANI) As India prepare for a must-win ICC Men’s T20 World Cup match against Zimbabwe in Chennai, former cricketer and commentator Aakash Chopra has urged the team to return to their fearless, attacking approach if they are to keep their semi-final hopes alive.The MA Chidambaram Stadium is set for a high-pressure evening, with India needing not only a win but also a sizeable margin to increase their clean sheet.
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In an interview on JioHotstar, Chopra analyzed India’s qualifying scenario and pointed out the challenges ahead.On India’s run to the semi-finals, he said: “The tricky problem for India is that they need to win both their remaining Super Eight matches and will also be hoping that South Africa win their matches against the West Indies and Zimbabwe. But if that doesn’t happen, then pure run-rate comes into play.”Chopra stressed that if the qualifiers are reduced to pure run-rate, India need to reinvent their attacking mindset. He believes captain Suryakumar Yadav has a key role to play in this turnaround.“That’s when India will have to bring out their explosive brand of cricket. Suryakumar Yadav is the man for that role. He needs to bat at three and bat with freedom. Against South Africa, I felt he was too slow. By the time he got out, the mountain was too high for them to climb,” he said.Chopra also raised concerns about India’s current batting pattern, suggesting that it lacks balance and clarity.“India have batsmen at the top who go hammer and tongs from ball one and lose their wicket. That puts the team in tricky situations. Then the batsmen who come after are too cautious and conservative. They start eating deliveries regardless of the pitch, the conditions or the bowler. They play the situation completely and fall behind in the game.”He further pointed out that this measured approach is a departure from the fearless cricket that India has displayed in recent years.“This is not the brand of cricket that India have played in the last two years. They were proud of us saying we are thrashing teams and scoring 250, 260 or 270. But Suryakumar Yadav and his men may have forgotten that formula. The template now is to score only 180-190. That is good enough on some days, but good teams need to get that aggressive brand back. Their hopes of making the semi-finals could have trouble,” he concluded.With their campaign hanging in the balance, India need to put in a commanding performance against Zimbabwe to stay in contention for a semi-final spot.See also: IND vs ZIM Live Score
