Sikandar Raza ruled out of India clash? Official medical bulletin issued

Sikandar Raza out of the World Cup?: The India National Cricket Team will be facing the Zimbabwe National Cricket Team on Thursday at the MA Chidambaram Stadium, Chennai. The match is scheduled to start at 7:00 PM IST. It is a must-win game for both sides as they have suffered hefty defeats in their respective Super 8 games against South Africa and the West Indies.

India was handed a 76-run defeat by the Proteas last Sunday, while the Chevrons had a humiliating loss by 107 against the Windies. During the West Indies vs Zimbabwe game, Sikandar Raza, the captain of the Zimbabwe National Cricket Team, was hit by a ball struck by Rovman Powell. The incident occurred in the 16th over of the Caribbean innings.

Sikandar Raza to miss the game against India?

Rovman Powell’s shot hit Sikandar Raza’s left hand as he bowled short to the batter. Fortunately, it struck on the left-hand of Raza, which is also his non-bowling arm. Raza groaned in pain, and the game was paused. During this time, Powell, who was batting, approached him and touched his back to check on him before hugging him and kissing him on the forehead.

Your daily dose of cricket!

There were reports of the Zimbabwe skipper missing out on the important clash against Suryakumar Yadav’s side mid-week. Dismissing the rumours, all-rounder Ryan Burl, who attended Zimbabwe’s pre-match press conference, gave an update about Sikandar Raza’s injury and his participation tomorrow.

Ryan Burl said, “It’s a must win game for us but a must win game for India as well. Sikandar Raza is 100% playing against India. Good luck telling him that he’s not playing.”

Zimbabwe would like to forget the game against West Indies

With primarily Raza being an off-spinner, keeping in mind that the India batters have struggled against the off-spinners in this edition of the World Cup. Sikander Raza went for 52 runs in three overs. The Windies posted a massive total of 254/6 in their first Super 8 game, and they never came back in the run chase and were bowled out for 147 runs.

Zimbabwe had a dream group stage as they defeated Australia and Sri Lanka and topped the group, qualifying for the Super 8s. But their lack of experience has made them struggle in the knockout stages. Sikandar Raza and his men would like to upset the Men in Blue tomorrow.

India’s struggle against pace-off balls continues

Until the South Africa match, there were some batters in the Men in Blue side who were stepping up one or the other day and saving the collapse and winning games for the side. However, against a quality bowling attack of the Proteas, they could not come back after the setback they suffered with 5/2 in the first two overs.

The India batters’ strike rate against the “pace-off” or slower ball deliveries has gone down, for example, in the South Africa game, it was 135 against slower balls, compared to 167 against pace on. In that case, more than half of the deliveries were below 120 kph, which effectively reduced the scoring rate, and the batters gave away the wickets.

Also Read: India Playing XI vs Zimbabwe Playing XI – Match 48, Super 8 Group 1 | ICC T20 World Cup 2026