India has revived its hopes of reaching the semi-finals by defeating Zimbabwe by 72 runs in the Super-8 match of ICC T20 World Cup 2026. However, even after this victory, Team India’s all-rounder Shivam Dubey has come into the center of discussion. The reason was his bowling performance, regarding which former England captain Michael Vaughan has given a strong reaction.
In this match played at MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai, the Indian team, batting first, had put a huge score of 256 runs on the board in 20 overs. While chasing the target, Zimbabwe team could score only 184 runs. Despite this big victory of India, Dubey’s bowling has increased the concern of the team management.
Questions raised even after victory
During the match, Shivam Dubey spent 46 runs in his 2 over spell. During this, he also bowled four wides and one no-ball, which gave additional opportunities to the opposition batsmen. One of his balls fell outside the pitch, which was immediately declared a no-ball by the umpire.
Reacting to this performance, Michael Vaughan said that if the match was not already in India’s favour, captain Suryakumar Yadav probably would not have called Dubey to bowl. If Dubey has to bowl again in future, it will mean that Team India is under pressure. He further said that the Indian team had entered the field with the idea that they would bowl out Zimbabwe for less than 108 runs. Although when this did not happen, the team became sluggish, but I still think that India is the best T20 team in the world.
Brilliant innings by Abhishek and Hardik
Talking about Indian batting, Abhishek Sharma gave a strong start to the team by playing a quick inning of 55 runs in 30 balls. At the same time, Hardik Pandya finally scored unbeaten 50 runs in just 23 balls and took the score beyond 250. Apart from this, Ishan Kishan (38 runs) and Tilak Verma (44 not out) also made important contributions. In reply, Brian Bennett played a brilliant inning of 97 unbeaten runs for Zimbabwe, but could not lead the team to victory.
India remains in the race for semi-finals
With this victory, India has made a comeback in the tournament and now hopes of reaching the semi-finals are intact. However, the bowling combination still remains a matter of concern for the team management, especially regarding the role of the sixth bowler. India will expect better performance from each of its players in the coming matches.
