Arshdeep Singh celebrates with his teammates a wicket during the T20 World Cup against Zimbabwe in Chennai on February 26, 2026
| Photo Credit: B. Jothi Ramalingam

NEW DELHI: India’s title defence roared back to life with a commanding 72-run win over Zimbabwe, and at the heart of the statement victory was a fearless message from Tilak Varma: “We want to show the fear to the opposition.”Go Beyond The Boundary with our YouTube channel. SUBSCRIBE NOW!Coming in at number six in a high-pressure encounter, Tilak smashed an unbeaten 44 off just 16 balls, striking at a staggering 275.00. The knock, laced with three fours and four sixes, helped India post their highest total of this T20 World Cup — 256/4 — and kept their semifinal hopes alive.

Designated as India’s number three for much of the tournament, Tilak had endured a lean patch. With a strike rate hovering around 118 in his previous five innings and visible struggles against spin on sluggish surfaces, questions had begun to surface over his role. But at Chepauk, he flipped the narrative in style.“I always say that whatever team needs, I am up for it,” Tilak said at the post-match press conference. “I have done the same role for the last four years in IPL for Mumbai Indians, switching between stabiliser and hitter. I have done it in a few games for India as well. According to the situation, I can adjust.”He added, “As I said before, I was just waiting for one innings. I am really grateful to God for that. I am pretty confident now that, going forward, I can win games for the team.”

India’s aggressive template was evident from the start. “Sanju started brilliantly this evening,” Tilak noted, praising the openers for setting the tone. “We discussed that whatever the situation is — even if we lose three or four wickets in the powerplay — we will bat with the same rhythm. We want to show the fear to the opposition that these guys are ready to hit each and every ball.”Tilak admitted the team closely followed South Africa’s dominant win over West Indies in Ahmedabad, knowing net run rate scenarios could come into play. “We were all watching the match. But as individuals and as a team, we felt it was important for us to win,” he said.“If you play good cricket, the run rate will automatically improve. We needed our cricket to be good. If our cricket is good, then God will help us in the tournament.”

Suryakumar Yadav (PTI Photo)

NEW DELHI: It was a must-win game for India to stay alive in the T20 World Cup semifinal race, and they delivered in emphatic fashion. Defending champions India crushed Zimbabwe by 72 runs in their Super Eights clash at Chennai’s MA Chidambaram Stadium, keeping their hopes alive while giving their net run rate a much-needed boost.Batting first, India posted a mammoth 256 for four, thanks to a blazing 55 from opener Abhishek Sharma and an unbeaten 50 from Hardik Pandya. Zimbabwe, who had stunned Australia and Sri Lanka to reach the Super Eights, could only manage 184 for six in reply, leaving India in complete control and setting up a winner-takes-all clash against the West Indies on Sunday.

“We wanted to leave everything behind. We didn’t think too much about what we did in the league stage or in the last game in Ahmedabad. Our video analyst had prepared a slide for all the batters and bowlers, highlighting what we’ve done well over the past year. We looked at that, took a lot of positivity from it, and came here with clarity,” Suryakumar Yadav said after the match.“With contributions from the top order right down to number seven, I think there was hardly anything missing in our performance. To be very honest, we could have been a little more clinical with the ball. But at the end of the day, a win is a win, and we’ll take it as we move forward.”The victory also confirmed South Africa’s place in the semifinals after their nine-wicket win over West Indies.“We’ll definitely tighten a few screws when we go and play the West Indies cricket team. I don’t want to take any credit away from the Zimbabwean batters. I think they batted beautifully. Yes, the wicket was good, but the way they approached the innings — taking their time in the powerplay and then accelerating smartly — was impressive,” Suryakumar added.India’s left-arm pacer Arshdeep Singh starred with the ball, returning 3 for 24 from his four overs. Zimbabwe’s Brian Bennett was left with the consolation of an unbeaten 97, the highest individual score by a Zimbabwean in T20 World Cup history, as his side bowed out of semifinal contention despite a promising start.“Credit goes to them as well. From a bowling point of view, though, we could have been a little smarter with certain options at key moments. In situations like this, we need to be courageous with our decisions. There’s no option other than taking the positive route. Once we reach Kolkata, we’ll sit down and plan properly for that game. For now, it’s about taking a day off, travelling, and relaxing,” Surya concluded.

India vs Zimbabwe (AP Photo)

CHENNAI: With India’s T20 World Cup semifinal hopes on the line, their fans will pray for a big win against Zimbabwe on Thursday and hope that Blessing Muzarabani stays at arm’s length. At 6ft 8in, Zimbabwe’s pace spearhead in this World Cup has been hard to miss. The 29-year-old leads Zimbabwe’s wicket column and is joint-second overall with 11 wickets, with an economy rate of 7.06.He also set up Zimbabwe’s win over Australia with a four-wicket burst. The lanky bowler has operated in the hardest phases of a T20 innings — taking the new ball up front and returning at the death — and has looked effective in both. His height gives him natural bounce but it is his discipline, backed by changes of pace, that has made it difficult for batters to line him up.

Zimbabwe head coach Justin Sammons and off-spinning allrounder Ryan Burl were quick to credit Muzarabani’s impact and resilience. He spent four to six months out before the tournament due to a back injury and Burl felt the bowler deserved more credit for how quickly he has found his rhythm again.“He had a lot of doubts coming in, with his own body and how he was feeling. The success that he has had with the ball has been amazing. It’s not something that has only just come about now. He has been doing this in international cricket previously. He’s one of those bowlers that’s obviously very tall and does kind of come a little bit from beyond the perpendicular. So jagging the ball back into the righthanders and across the lefties with that steep bounce poses a challenge for the batters. I’m a lot happier knowing that he’s on my team and not on the opposition,” Burl said.For Sammons, what separates Muzarabani is not just his height but the consistency with which he hits his areas. “He’s been brilliant for us. It’s so good to see him come back and hit the ground running. He’s been really good in the control of his length and his line, so he’s not given the batters too many free, easy boundary balls.If they look for the boundary, there’s an element of risk that they’ve had to take,” the coach said.

Sanju Samson during warm up practice session on February 24, 2026, ahead of the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup match between India vs Zimbabwe at MAC Stadium, Chepauk in Chennai.
| Photo Credit: B. Jothi Ramalingam