India took a sigh of relief after defeating Zimbabwe by 72 runs in a must win Super 8 fixture. With this win, the Men in Blue have revived their semi-final chances and will now only need to defeat West India to book a place in the final four. It was a brilliant batting display from a team that lost 76 runs to South Africa last week.
Abhishek Sharma regained his form after a long wait and scored a half century while Ishan Kishan played another impactful innings. Skipper Suryakumar Yadav also produced a cameo before Hardik Pandya and Tilak Varma took India to a 250+ total with a 84 run partnership towards the end.
A special mention goes to Sanju Samson who was brought back into the side. Samson scored a quickfire 24 off 15 balls and got India to a dreamy start. After winning the toss, Zimbabwe’s skipper Sikandar Raza said that the pitch seemed to have some juice in it for the pacers early on.
After India’s win, former India captain Kris Srikkanth took a jibe at Sikandar Raza for his comment and said, "It was a feast for India. Sharma and Varma scored, Hardik scored, everyone scored. It was a good batting wicket. Zimbabwe chose to bowl first saying there will be juice on the wicket. Sanju Samson made orange juice of their bowling in two overs,"
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Srikkanth also believes that Sanju Samson could have played a bigger inning against Zimbabwe.
"Sanju should have scored a hundred on this wicket. I was sure he would make a fifty. God is with you Sanju, what are you doing? Maybe he is reserving for the big match. But the start he gave was a good thing for Abhishek Sharma, as he could play his normal game. He did not have to go for the shots," he said on 'Cheeky Cheeka'.
While praising Abhishek Sharma, the former India captain said, "What I liked about Abhishek is that he did not go for the runs. Runs came to him automatically. He did not go for the bowling. He was playing late, was not stepping out. He was very still and he was playing with a free flow. This is how he should play. Abhishek does not have to go for the runs, it will come to him. He was waiting for it," he concluded..
