TimesofIndia.com in Chennai: he has put India in a position where they cannot afford to slip. Their Net Run Rate (NRR) is the second worst in the Super Eight stage. The Men in Blue need convincing wins against Zimbabwe and the West Indies to keep their last four hopes alive. Victory is the key word, as anything less would keep the permutations alive but effectively end their campaign. Even a win requires an assist from South Africa, but this scenario should put them in better territory. Now, in the form of Zimbabwe, India face opposition that had already silenced the home crowd in the group stage when they defeated Sri Lanka in Colombo. Thursday gives them another opportunity to repeat this success at noisy Chepauk. Both teams found themselves in a must-win situation and Ryan Burl of Zimbabwe did not venture into the ‘dangerous’ territory of India’s silencing in India. The 31-year-old prefers to focus on his side’s process and sticking to what worked for them against Sri Lanka in Sri Lanka.
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“It will be quite dangerous to answer how I will silence India in India. No, I mean obviously playing against Sri Lanka and Sri Lanka with home ground advantage is very difficult. But ultimately how we approach tomorrow’s game will not be different from how we have approached games before in the sense that we have our procedures, we have our game plan, yes, it changes here and there where we play, depending on how we play the opposition, but according to the conditions we’ve found a lot of success doing it that way, so obviously we’d like to focus on what our strengths are, but take into account the challenges that the opposition presents,” Burl said.However, the pressure seems to be more in the Indian camp as the runaway favorites find themselves in a position to keep their campaign alive. The side that dominated the bilateral circuit for almost two years finds itself in a delicate position and the players lack confidence. Even during Tuesday’s training session in Chepauk, the batsmen, who lacked runs, took a while to regain the dominant flow that has helped them set the stage on fire in recent months. Some World Cup debutants are probably dealing with the pressure of a multi-nation tournament, added to that of being at home.
Chennai: Zimbabwe’s Blessing Muzarabani during a training session ahead of the ICC T20 World Cup 2026 cricket match between India and Zimbabwe at the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai. (PTI Photo/R Senthilkumar) (PTI02_25_2026_000358A)
“The World Cup in India will be pressure. I am a believer that any international match you play, even I have played some ordinary county match, when you go to bat, you will feel the pressure. If you don’t feel that anxiety, it means you are not playing cricket. So you learn to deal with that anxiety from the beginning of your career. And this is obviously a big pressure game when you are representing India and the World Cup. “But I honestly believe that for a professional it’s part of his life and we should deal with it positively. Just because we lost one match and didn’t have a good partnership and all, people talk more about it. But honestly I think everyone is good enough to handle the pressure. If we want to win the World Cup, we have to handle the pressure. If we can’t then it’s difficult, I personally can’t handle it.” Once we start regaining the momentum, if we do that from tomorrow, I think they will pick up at the right time, so that’s the way I look at it,” said India batsman Kotak.India are yet to play a perfect game in the tournament and the famous batting, billed as the real deal in the build-up, is yet to fire on all cylinders. Among the teams that have qualified for the Super 8 stage, India’s collective batting is the worst at around 20 and they have scored as many as 11 ducks so far, again the most. It’s not a number to be proud of, but it’s nothing to keep a think tank awake. According to Kotak, the team focuses on collective success or failure; individual failures do not weigh them down in the business end of the tournament.
Chennai: Zimbabwe captain Sikandar Raza during a training session ahead of the ICC T20 World Cup 2026 cricket match between India and Zimbabwe at the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai. (PTI)
In Zimbabwe, India once again face an opponent that is aware of its shortcomings and has enough variety in its attack to test the best. Blessing Muzarabani was a real threat, he had already taken 11 wickets in the tournament. However, the 6’9″ pitcher isn’t the only weapon in their arsenal; they also boast effective spin and seam options. “Obviously we’ve got a lot of options and that’s probably one of the advantages of the Zimbabwean line-up is we’ve got a left-arm, a 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’ve got quite a lot of depth and I think it’s probably just going to be depending on what the combinations are and on the bats – see where to go,” explained Burl.The lanky Blessing stood out during the nets; it was hard to miss the intimidating frame. He will certainly bring something different to the table against India and Burl stressed that he did not get the credit he deserved for his performances in the tournament.
Chennai: Tadiwanashe Marumani of Zimbabwe during a practice session ahead of the ICC T20 World Cup 2026 cricket match between India and Zimbabwe at the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai. (PTI)
“I mean, being 6-foot-9 helps. I have to give Blessing a lot more credit than he got because he was out for about four to six months before this tournament. And obviously he had a lot of doubts coming in with his own body and how he felt and stuff. The success he had with the ball was amazing. It’s not something that just came.” “He’s done it in international cricket before. He’s obviously someone we’re really into, we’re really happy to have him in the team. He’s one of those bowlers who’s obviously 6’9″ and comes a bit off the vertical. So pushing the ball back into righties and over lefties with that steep bounce presents quite a challenge for the batsman. So I’m much happier knowing he’s in my team and not in the opposition,” Burl added.In a few hours, India’s campaign will take a much clearer shape, starting with the game between South Africa and the West Indies. The result of this game will have a big impact on India’s campaign as control has slipped after the drop in Ahmedabad
