If India Don’t Back Their Aggressive Brand Of Cricket, Their Semifinal Hopes Could Be in Trouble: Aakash Chopra
India will face Zimbabwe in a crucial Super 8 match in the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2026 and need a big win to boost their net run rate. Talking about JioHotstar’s ‘Game Plan’, JioStar expert Aakash Chopra shared his thoughts on the off-spin challenge for India’s left-handers, the way he counters Sikandar Raza and areas where Captain Suryakumar Yadav needs to improve.
“Every delivery the off-spinners bowled against the Indian openers was a little short, wide and fired. They don’t give any space. That’s exactly what happened against the Netherlands, South Africa and Pakistan. Be it Aryan Dutt, Salman Ali Agha or Aiden Markram, everyone followed the same blueprint against the Indian batsmen, especially the left-handers. They hooked them. In fact, no team has lost more wickets against finger spinners than India, especially in this World Cup where off-spinners are easier bowlers to play.” However, the story has been quite painful for India in this tournament.”
On how India should approach Sikandar Raza’s bowling:
“Sikandar Raza will bowl fast and follow left-handed batsmen. He will keep the ball around the wickets. He will not bowl slower like Markram does. That is not his plan. He doesn’t even need to change his pace much. India have two left-handers in Ishan Kishan and Abhishek Sharma who opens the innings. They should bring Suryakumar Yadav at number three to counter Raza. He is the captain and should be leading. If Tilak Varma comes in at third, India will be first in the batting position.” After the wicket falls, there will be two left-handers batting together and this will add to their problems. Surya at three creates a left-right combination that can trouble Zimbabwe’s bowlers, he needs to take control and lead the team from the front.
India’s way to the semi-finals:
“The challenge for India is that they need to win both their remaining Super 8 matches and they will also hope that South Africa wins their matches against the West Indies and Zimbabwe. But if that doesn’t happen, the net run rate will come into play. That’s when India will need to bring out their explosive brand of cricket. Suryakumar Yadav is the man for the role. He needs to bat at three and bat freely. I felt he was too slow against South Africa. By then the mountain outside was too high for others to climb.”
As per India’s current batting pattern:
“At India’s top end, they have batsmen who bat with hammer and tongs from ball one and lose their wickets. This puts the team in difficult situations. The batsmen who come in later are very cautious and conservative. They start eating deliveries regardless of the pitch, conditions or the bowler. They play the situation completely and stay behind the game. This is not the brand of cricket that India has played in the last two years. They were proud to say that we batted teams and got 250, 260 or 250, 260.” 270. But Suryakumar Yadav and his men have perhaps forgotten this formula. The pattern now is to score just 180-190, which is good enough on some days, but good teams need to chase these totals easily. If they fail to do so, their hopes of reaching the semi-finals could be in jeopardy.
