Following India‘s heavy 76-run defeat to South Africa, the group’s technique for his or her must-win T20 World Cup 2026 Tremendous 8 recreation towards Zimbabwe in Chennai on February 26, 2026, has develop into a serious speaking level.
Two-time World Cup-winning captain Ricky Ponting and former India coach Ravi Shastri have provided sharp tactical recommendation to assist the defending champions maintain their marketing campaign alive, particularly addressing the controversial exclusion of vice-captain Axar Patel. This loss snapped a 12-match successful streak, creating an pressing want for the Indian think-tank to resolve their choice puzzles earlier than wrapping up the Tremendous Eight stage towards the West Indies in Kolkata this Sunday.
Ricky Ponting’s plea for simplicity and the most effective XI for India’s Tremendous 8 recreation vs Zimbabwe
Ponting has urged the Indian administration to cease over-complicating choice based mostly on opponent matchups and as an alternative return to the basics of squad constructing. He believes the choice to bench vice-captain Axar Patel to keep away from bowling a left-arm spinner to South Africa’s left-handers was a tactical error that ignored the core worth of fielding the strongest attainable group. Ponting emphasised {that a} captain’s major talent lies within the ‘artwork’ of managing world-class bowlers successfully inside a recreation, fairly than utterly eradicating them from the XI based mostly on the handedness of the opposition batters.
“Listening to the commentary, the explanation Axar didn’t play is due to the left-handers within the opposition facet. However there’s nonetheless some right-handers there. It simply comes right down to the artwork of the captain of having the ability to use Axar on the proper time. I might be going again to the fundamentals. I’d be simply taking a look at their lineup. Who’s our greatest XI for the circumstances in Chennai?” Ponting was quoted as saying by ICC.
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The case for Kuldeep Yadav’s wrist-spin selection
Past the talk over Axar, Ponting is pushing for the return of Kuldeep Yadav to the beginning lineup for the Chepauk conflict. He argues that Kuldeep’s distinctive potential to spin the ball each methods makes him a ‘matchup-proof’ asset who can hassle any batter no matter whether or not they’re left or right-handed. This selection is especially deadly on subcontinental tracks the place the additional bounce and misleading ‘wrong-ones’ of a wrist-spinner can create wicket-taking alternatives that conventional finger spinners may miss, particularly when defending a complete.
“If it has Kuldeep Yadav in it, that’s the opposite one which I’d be eager about bringing again as a result of it doesn’t matter with him if it’s left-hand or right-hand. He can bowl flawed ones and spin the ball away from the left-hand exterior fringe of each these batters.” Ponting concluded.
Additionally READ: T20 World Cup 2026 – Ravi Shastri proposes tactical shake-up in India’s playing XI for Super 8 game against Zimbabwe
