India cricket team will be looking to make some changes to their playing XI for their next Super 8 tie against Zimbabwe on Thursday. Suryakumar Yadav and co. were given a reality check by South Africa as they were handed a 76-run defeat in Ahmedabad on Sunday. Most of India’s issues at present stem from a misfiring top order and reliance on too many southpaws in the side. With the game against ZIM a must-win in order for the co-hosts to fancy their chances of making it to the T20 World Cup 2026 semi-finals, India could be looking to make some radical changes, as indicated by assistant coach Ryan ten Doeschate as well.
Predicted India playing XI vs ZIM
| Position | Player | Role |
| 1. | Ishan Kishan (WK) | Wicketkeeper-batter / Opener |
| 2. | Abhishek Sharma | Opener |
| 3. | Sanju Samson | Batter |
| 4. | Suryakumar Yadav (C) | Batter |
| 5. | Axar Patel | All-rounder |
| 6. | Shivam Dube | All-rounder |
| 7. | Hardik Pandya | All-rounder |
| 8. | Arshdeep Singh | Pacer |
| 9. | Kuldeep Yadav | Spinner |
| 10. | Jasprit Bumrah | Pacer |
| 11. | Varun Chakravarthy | Spinner |
Sanju Samson to replace Tilak?
Batting at number 3, Tilak has failed to live up to the expectations so far in the T20 World Cup. He has registered scores of 25, 25, 25, 31 and 1 in the five matches that he has featured in so far. In majority of his innings, he has managed to get a good but slow start but has not been able to convert them into match-winning knocks. The result of that has been extreme pressure on the rest of the batting order.
A misfiring Tilak could very well pave way for Sanju in the playing XI. The Kerala keeper-batter has featured in only one game in the T20 WC thus far, which was in the tie against Namibia where he replaced an ill Abhishek Sharma. While Samson is at his best while opening the innings for India, the management will want to give a long rope to Sharma and Kishan at the top of the order and are unlikely to tinker that combination. Therefore, Samson could be tried at number 3 or even the 4th position, based on the situation of the game.
Axar Patel returns
India suffered the brunt of the absence of Axar in the previous game as the side lost steam in the middle overs, largely due to a misfiring middle-order. The team’s decision to field Sundar to counter left-handers backfired as he fared poorly with both bat and ball. Patel is all set to return to the playing XI in the tie against Zimbabwe.
Meanwhile, India will also want to bring in Kuldeep Yadav to boost their spin department. Given that the surface in Chennai has historically favoured spinners, India will be looking at 12 overs of spin from Kuldeep, Varun and Axar. Bumrah, Arshdeep and Pandya will comprise of the pace unit.
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