Heading into the T20 World Cup 2026 Super 8s match against Zimbabwe, India’s task was cut out for them. A heavy 76-run defeat against South Africa brought all the glaring concerns into the spotlight. Abhishek Sharma and Tilak Varma‘s lack of form put India in a spot of bother, and several fans on social media started making their voices heard, calling for the team management to drop the two and bring someone from outside. Abhishek was not able to score a run and looked way off the boil against the Proteas, trying to hit every ball on the offside. On the other hand, throughout the tournament, Tilak failed to strike big, struggling for timing and, in turn, creating pressure on the non-striker.
However, for the must-win encounter against Sikandar Raza’s Zimbabwe at the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai, the team management, headed by coach Gautam Gambhir and captain Suryakumar Yadav, decided to show faith in both Tilak and Abhishek, and the gamble paid off with both batters scoring runs. While Abhishek scored 55 runs of 30 balls, Tilak managed an unbeaten 44 runs of 16 balls while batting at No.5.
The management just brought Sanju Samson into the lineup in place of Rinku Singh. The right-handed batter opened the batting alongside Abhishek, leading to Ishan Kishan dropping to No.3 and Tilak shifting to No.5. The move paid off immediately as Zimbabwe were not able to employ an off-spinner inside the powerplay. Before the game against Zimbabwe, off-spinners ran riot against the Indian openers Kishan and Abhishek; however, the right-handed Sanju made it impossible for the opponents to use this tactic.
Apart from this tactical change, it has now come to light that the team management gave the charge to the video analysts before the contest against Zimbabwe, and the entire team was shown a slide showcasing how the Men in Blue became a dominant force in T20Is over the last year. The video also helped Tilak and Abhishek realise their shortcomings and make the necessary change against Zimbabwe.
“We had a slide which our video analyst had made for all the batters and all the bowlers, showing what we did over the year. We saw that slide, and took a lot of positivity from that. And when we came here, I think with contributions from all the batters from top to number seven, I think it was heartening to see,” Suryakumar said after winning the contest against Zimbabwe by 72 runs.
Flaws in Abhishek and Tilak’s game
According to the Indian Express, Abhishek and Tilak realised their shortcomings by watching the slide prepared by the analysts. The left-handed batter from Punjab noticed how the cross-batted slashes were leading to his downfall, while Tilak realised that he was getting rushed into playing the shots.
“Earlier, we were shown what we had done over the past year. Before heading to the match, we had a 15-minute team video session where they showed everything we had worked on in the last year. Watching that video gave all of us a really good boost,” Varma said in an interview with Star Sports after the win over Zimbabwe.
The contest between India and Zimbabwe saw the former post 256/4 in the 20 overs, the second-highest team total in the history of the T20 World Cup. This was the first time that India batted like a dominant force, hitting the Zimbabwe bowlers all around the park.
The 72-run win helped India stay afloat in the race for the semi-finals and the upcoming contest against the West Indies is a virtual quarterfinal at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata.
