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Suryakumar Yadav feels one area of India’s game was not ok within the win over Zimbabwe.
Suryakumar Yadav and Sikandar Raza before the India-Zimbabwe clash.
(AP)
India captain Suryakumar Yadav wasn’t entirely satisfied along with his team’s bowling performance despite the massive, 72-run win over India. He said the bowlers might have been more ‘clinical’, ‘smarter’ and more ‘courageous’ within the defense of 257, with Zimbabwe managing to attain 184/6 in response.
The whole Indian batting top-six crossed 20, and batting with a strike rate of over 150, a record, to place up one of the best team performance of the tournament. With the ball, though, Zimbabwe batters found joy against Varun Chakaravarthy and Axar Patel, while scoring 46 runs in only two overs against Shivam Dube.
“With contributions from the highest order right all the way down to number seven, I believe there was hardly anything missing in our performance,” Suryakumar said after the match. “To be very honest, we might have been a bit more clinical with the ball. But at the tip of the day, a win is a win, and we’ll take it as we move forward. We’ll definitely tighten a couple of screws once we go and play the West Indies cricket team. I don’t need to take any credit away from the Zimbabwean batters. I believe they batted beautifully. Yes, the wicket was good, but the best way they approached the innings, taking their time within the powerplay after which accelerating smartly, was impressive. Credit goes to them as well. From a bowling standpoint, though, we might have been a bit smarter with certain options at key moments. In situations like this, we should be courageous with our decisions,” he added.
Nevertheless, Suryakumar would also know that it was the bowling attack that carried India through the group stage when the batting unit was struggling.
Positivity injection
Suryakumar also credited the performance to an injection of positivity by the team video analyst.
“I believe we wanted to depart every part behind. We didn’t think an excessive amount of about what we did within the league stage or within the last game in Ahmedabad. Our video analyst had prepared a slide for all of the batters and bowlers, highlighting what we’ve done well over the past 12 months. We checked out that, took numerous positivity from it, and got here here with clarity. “
The win kept India alive within the semi-final race. But they still have to beat the West Indies on Sunday to maneuver ahead.
February 26, 2026, 23:47 IST
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