In the Super 8 match of the T20 World Cup 2026 against Zimbabwe, Team India emerged victorious by 72 runs at the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai.
Team India`s management made a major change for the clash by bringing in Sanju Samson and making him open the innings along with Abhishek Sharma. Ishan Kishan was pushed to number three in the batting line-up.
Samson smashed 24 runs off 15 deliveries, laced with a boundary and two maximums, whereas Abhishek garnered 55 runs in 30 balls, with the help of four boundaries and the same number of maximums.
Speaking about the inclusion of Samson, former cricketer Sanjay Manjrekar explained how it benefited Team India.
“I thought India`s process was brilliant right at the start when they had a left-hand right-hand combination to open the inning. That was a very, very important change, and that helped India a great deal. I`ll tell you why. If there were two left-handers, Ishan and Abhishek at the top, Sikandar Raza would have brought himself on because it was bowling first, the pitch would have had something for him and his other offspin in the first six overs, and that would have been a little troublesome,” he said in a video posted on social media.
He then stated that the lefty-righty combination at the top worked beautifully for the “Men in Blue”.
“Now, because there was a presence of Sanju Samson, he couldn`t do that, and that meant that the offspinners were introduced a little late, and when spinners were introduced, India`s run rate dropped for just a little bit but the left-hand right-hand combination at the top was a very important change for India and which worked beautifully,” said Manjrekar.
The “Men in Blue” will lock horns with the West Indies on March 1 at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata.
The final of the ongoing marquee event is scheduled to be played on March 8, with the venue yet to be decided.
T20 World Cup 2026, Super 8: Full Squads
India: Suryakumar Yadav (C), Sanju Samson (WK), Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, Hardik Pandya, Jasprit Bumrah, Ishan Kishan (WK), Rinku Singh, Mohammed Siraj, Washington Sundar, Shivam Dube, Abhishek Sharma, Varun Chakaravarthy, Arshdeep Singh, Tilak Varma.
West Indies: Jason Holder, Johnson Charles (WK), Akeal Hosein, Roston Chase, Shai Hope (C) (WK), Gudakesh Motie, Brandon King, Shimron Hetmyer, Rovman Powell, Romario Shepherd, Sherfane Rutherford, Jayden Seales, Matthew Forde, Quentin Sampson, Shamar Joseph.
(With ANI Inputs)
