Zimbabwe Coach Throws Open Challenge As India Face T20 World Cup Super 8 Exit Threat

Zimbabwe [Source: AFP]

Zimbabwe head coach Justin Sammons believes that the upcoming match against India in the ICC Men's T20 World Cup Super 8 stage will be a tough one. Notably, the match will be played at the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai on February 24.

According to Sammons, India, led by Suryakumar Yadav, are likely to attack strongly from the very beginning.

Justin Sammons expects aggressive India in Super 8 Clash

Justin Sammons expects India to play in a style similar to how the West Indies played against Zimbabwe at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai. In that match, West Indies played very aggressively and put Zimbabwe under huge pressure.

Recently, Zimbabwe suffered a massive 107-run defeat against West Indies in Mumbai. West Indies scored 254 runs for 6 wickets in 20 overs, which was the second-highest total in T20 World Cup history. Zimbabwe struggled badly while chasing this huge score and could not recover from the pressure.

At the same time, India are also coming into this match after losing to South Africa by 83 runs. Therefore, Zimbabwe coach feels India will be determined to bounce back strongly in Chennai.

Zimbabwe learning from heavy defeat against West Indies

After the match, Justin Sammons said, "We know the way India is going to come out and it's going to be very similar to the way West Indies approached their innings. They're (India) not going to hold back," Sammons said after the match.

During the WI vs ZIM T20 World Cup match at Wankhede, which is known as a batting-friendly stadium, Zimbabwe made several mistakes in the field.

They dropped important catches, which allowed players like Shimron Hetmyer to score 85 runs off just 34 balls and Rovman Powell to score 59 runs off 35 balls. Because of these missed chances, West Indies were able to post such a huge total.

Sammons said there were many lessons to learn from that loss. He explained that his team needs to stay calm during pressure situations, think quickly, and try to break the rhythm of the opposition batters.

"There will be good learnings from that and how we deal with that, under pressure in the moment, how do we stay calm and just think on our feet and also just try and change things up a little bit, disrupt the rhythm of the batters," he added.

Justin Sammons praises Blessing Muzarabani

Despite the heavy defeat, Sammons praised fast bowler Blessing Muzarabani for his strong performance, especially during the powerplay overs. He said Muzarabani’s height gives him an advantage and that he bowled with good control.

“He’s been brilliant for us. His height is a huge strength, and he’s controlled his line and length very well. If that chance had been taken, the game might have looked very different,” Sammons said.

The big loss to West Indies also hurt Zimbabwe’s NRR. As a result, their NRR dropped below India’s, even though India had also lost heavily to South Africa earlier.

Now, as both teams prepare to face each other in Chennai, the match has become very important. India will look to avoid an early exit from the T20 World Cup Super 8 stage, while Zimbabwe will aim to prove they can compete with stronger teams.