India ace Powerplay against Zimbabwe with Sanju Samson's inclusion: Stats
What's the story
The crowd at Chennai's MA Chidambaram Stadium roared right after Suryakumar Yadav announced Sanju Samson's inclusion in India's Playing XI against Zimbabwe. Samson opened the innings with Abhishek Sharma in the must-win ICC T20 World Cup 2026 Super 8 encounter, after Zimbabwe elected to field. While Samson's inclusion broke the left-handed top order, it yielded a blazing start. India were 80/1 in six overs.
Inclusion
A look at India's Playing XI
India made two changes, including Axar Patel and Samson for Washington Sundar and Rinku Singh, respectively. Samson returned to the XI to counter the off-spin threat. As it turned out, Zimbabwe didn't bowl a spinner in the Powerplay. Playing XI: Samson (wicket-keeper), Abhishek Sharma, Ishan Kishan, Suryakumar Yadav (captain), Tilak Varma, Hardik Pandya, Shivam Dube, Axar Patel, Arshdeep Singh, Varun Chakravarthy, and Jasprit Bumrah.
Knock
Samson gives India blazing start
Samson, who took the strike, hit Richard Ngarava for a maximum on the match's second ball. With another leg-bye boundary, India collected 13 runs off the over. Abhishek also joined Samson in the counter-attack, taking India to 46/0 in three overs. However, Blessing Muzarabani dismissed Samson in the fourth over. The latter smashed a 15-ball 24 (1 four and 2 sixes).
Information
India's third-highest Powerplay total in T20 WCs
Kishan, who joined Abhishek after Samson's departure, also made his intent clear. Owing to their exploits, India raced to 80/1 in six overs, their third-highest Powerplay total in T20 World Cups.