Sikandar Raza out of World Cup?: India national cricket team will take on Zimbabwe national cricket team at the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai on Thursday. The match is scheduled to start at 7:00 pm Indian time. It is a must win for both the sides as they have faced heavy defeats against South Africa and West Indies in their respective Super 8 matches.
India had suffered a 76-run defeat at the hands of the Proteas last Sunday, while the Chevrons suffered a humiliating 107-run defeat against the West Indies. During the West Indies vs Zimbabwe game, Zimbabwe national cricket team captain Sikandar Raza was injured by a ball from Rowman Powell. This incident occurred in the 16th over of the Caribbean innings.
Will Sikandar Raza miss the match against India?
Rovman Powell’s shot hit Sikandar Raza’s left arm as he bowled a short ball to the batsman. Fortunately, it hit Raza’s left hand, which is also his non-bowling hand. Raza groaned in pain and the game was stopped. During this, Powell, who was batting, came up to him and touched his back to examine him before hugging him and kissing him on the forehead.
There were reports that the Zimbabwe captain had missed the crucial match against Suryakumar Yadav’s team in midweek. Dismissing the rumours, all-rounder Ryan Burl, who attended Zimbabwe’s pre-match press conference, gave an update on Sikandar Raza’s injury and his participation tomorrow.
Ryan Burl said, “It is important for us to win this match but it is important for India to win this match as well. Sikandar Raza is playing 100% against India. All the best wishes are telling him that he is not playing.”
Zimbabwe would like to forget the match against West Indies
Considering that Raza is primarily an off-spinner, India’s batsmen have struggled against off-spinners in this edition of the World Cup. Sikandar Raza gave away 52 runs in three overs. The Windies scored a mammoth 254/6 in their first Super 8 game, and they never recovered in the run chase and were bowled out for 147.
Zimbabwe had a dream group stage as they defeated Australia and Sri Lanka and qualified for the Super 8s by topping the group. But due to lack of experience they struggled in the knockout stage. Sikandar Raza and his men would like to trouble the Men in Blue tomorrow.
India’s struggle against fast balls continues
Till the South Africa match, the Men in Blue team had a few batsmen who were stepping up on some days and saving the team from defeat and winning games. However, in the face of a quality bowling attack from the Proteas, they could not bounce back after taking a shock figures of 5/2 in the first two overs.
India’s batsmen’s strike rate against the “pace-off” or slower ball has gone down, for example, in the South Africa game, it was 135 against the slower balls, compared to 167 against the pace-off. In that situation, more than half the balls were below 120 kph, effectively reducing the scoring rate and giving away wickets to the batsmen.
Also Read: India Playing XI vs Zimbabwe Playing XI – Match 48, Super 8 Group 1 | ICC T20 World Cup 2026