With their “fearless” style of cricket, India revitalized their T20 World Cup campaign ahead of a winner-take-all matchup with the West Indies for the last semi-final spot.
After losing badly to South Africa in their Super Eights opener, India defeated Zimbabwe by 72 runs in Chennai on Thursday, making them the clear favorites to defend their title at home.
With the help of opener Abhishek Sharma’s scorching 55 and an undefeated 50 from Hardik Pandya, India’s batting amassed 256/4, the second-highest total in the tournament’s history.
At the MA Chidambaram Stadium, the Indian batters destroyed the opposition bowling with 17 sixes and 17 fours in a vicious display of power hitting.
To determine the second semi-finalist from Group 1, India will play the West Indies, who lost to South Africa by 9 wickets, in Kolkata on Sunday.
“We want to play the fearless cricket, the brand of cricket we played today and we played since last year. The same intent we want to keep in the next game as well. And going ahead in the tournament, we take the same intensity (forward) ,” AFP quoted Tilak Varma as saying.
In an undefeated 84-run partnership with Pandya, who finished the innings with two sixes to reach his fifty, the left-handed Varma smashed a 19-ball 44.
With the comeback of Sanju Samson, who gave the team a strong start with his 24 off 15 balls, India rearranged their opening combination and everything came together.
After struggling in the competition with three ducks in four innings, the left-handed Abhishek found form with his first T20 World Cup fifty.
“It’s important when the openers give us a good start, the same confidence follows to number three, four and five. And we discussed that whatever the situation is, (even) if we lose three-four wickets in powerplay, we will bat with the same rhythm. And we want to show the fear in opposition bowlers, that these guys are ready to hit each and every ball,” said Varma.
The top-ranked T20 team in the world, India, entered the World Cup riding high scores from bilateral matches and was predicted to reach the 300-run milestone. Their batting, however, has been brittle and was frequently exposed, especially by minnows the United States, who reduced them to 77/6 in their opening match.
Varma is still wary of his team’s strategies against the West Indies, who smashed 254/6 against Zimbabwe in their Super Eights opener.
“So if the wicket is not good, then we’ll adjust, and we’ll keep that intensity on. I would not say we want to score more than 250 — but if we get a good start, then of course we’ll go for it,” said Varma.
Indian bowling has appeared to be good. Left-arm fast Arshdeep Singh limited Zimbabwe to 184/6 on Thursday with figures of 3/24. With 35 wickets to senior pacer Jasprit Bumrah’s 33, he overtook Bumrah as India’s top bowler at the T20 World Cup.
“We have been doing well for the past couple of years, so even after a blip or a defeat, the belief of the group was there. We knew we just have to come and follow our processes, and the result will come our way. So the thought was very simple and we are enjoying it,” Arshdeep told reporters.
History is against the 2024 champions. No team has ever won the trophy at home, and no team has ever retained the T20 World Cup title.
