India vs Zimbabwe - Match Preview: India will be up against Zimbabwe in the final clash of Super 12 of the T20 World Cup 2022 on Sunday, November 06, from 1:30 PM IST onwards at the MCG.

India will be looking for a win here to finish at the top of the group 2 points table. Meanwhile, for Zimbabwe, it's a must-win game to keep their mild hope alive.

Also Read: T20 World Cup 2022: Top 5 Players to watch out for in the tournament

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India vs Zimbabwe: Super 12 Match Preview

Match Details:-

Match: India vs Zimbabwe - Super 12 Group 2 (Match 42)
Venue: Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG), Melbourne.
Date & Time: November 06, 2022, at 1:30 PM (IST)
Where to Watch Live: Star Sports Network and JIO TV.

Pitch Report: India vs Zimbabwe

The wicket at the MCG generally suits the pacer, but the batters can look to play their shots once they get settled. The skipper winning the toss might want to bowl first.

Read Also: T20 World Cup 2022: Top 4 favorites to win the title

Head-to-Head Stats: (T20I)

Matches Played: 07
Won by India: 05
Won by Zimbabwe: 02

Team News:

India:

A victory here will seal the top spot for Rohit and his men. However, so far India has collected six points in four games, winning three and losing one. Currently, the Men in Blue is at the top of the table while the Proteas are at second. India's performance in the Super 12 was good with the only defeat coming against the Proteas. Kohli and Surya are looking in fine touch while KL Rahul scored a half-century in the last match.

Coming to the bowlers, Arshdeep Singh is the star performer for India so far. He has currently in his dream run in the event. However, the rest of the bowlers have also performed decently so far. Now, Dravid and Rohit will be looking to give a chance to the bench players in this game to test the bench players and make a strong playing xi even more. Dinesh Karthik and Ashwin is expected to miss this game while Pant and Chahal may get a chance here at the MCG.

Also Read: T20 World Cup: Top 5 performances by Indian players

Zimbabwe:

Zimbabwe is almost out of the knockout race with only three points in four games. If they manages a win here then they will finish with five points and to qualify they have to wait for South Africa and Pakistan to lose their respective games. However, the tournament was a total ups and downs for the Zimbabwe side. After topping the first round in group B, they looked impressive. But, however except the one win against Pakistan, they didn't able to win in the rest two games - one got washed out.

If we talk about their star performer of this season, that is undoubtedly Sikandar Raza, who performed with both bat and bowl. His immense contribution helped the Zimbabwe side to made a mark in the T20 World Cup. Talking about the bowler's, Muzarabani performed decent while the rest's performance was below average. The question is can they give a tough challenge to the Men in Blue here at the Melbourne Cricket Ground?

India vs Zimbabwe: Super 12: Possible Playing XI

India:

Rohit Sharma (C)
KL Rahul
Virat Kohli
Suryakumar Yadav
Hardik Pandya
Rishabh Pant/Dinesh Karthik (wk)
Axar Patel
Yuzvendra Chahal/Ravichandran Ashwin
Bhuvneshwar Kumar/Harshal Patel
Mohammad Shami
Arshdeep Singh

Zimbabwe:

Craig Ervine (C)
Wesley Madhevere
Regis Chakabva (wk)
Sean Williams
Sikandar Raza
Milton Shumba
Ryan Burl
Luke Jongwe
Tendai Chatara
Richard Ngarava
Blessing Muzarabani

Read Also: Player of the series winners in T20 World Cup History

Super 12: Fantasy Cricket Dream11 Team Prediction: India vs Zimbabwe:

You must change your team if these players aren't announced in the starting lineup.

Pink Ball Test, a five-day match contested under lights like a One Day International, was first held in November 2015 after a lot of trials in First-Class cricket across the globe. Day-Night Test was introduced to add more to the longer format as white-ball especially the T20s has taken over the game with crowds preferring the shorter format.

Also Read: Border–Gavaskar Trophy: India's record in Pink Ball Test

India are set to play their second Test match of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy in Adelaide. After winning the Perth Test match by a massive margin of 295 runs, India will face Australia against the pink ball, under lights. So before the start of the series, let's take a look at the Indian batters who scored the most runs in the Pink Ball Test. 

1# Virat Kohli | 277 Runs

Former Indian skipper Virat Kohli has a fine record against the pink-ball, having played all of India's four pink-ball matches so far. He leads the scoring chart in pink ball Test cricket for India. In six innings so far, he has scored 277 runs at an average of 46.16, with a century and fifty. His knock of 136* against Bangladesh in 2019 at Kolkata is the only century by an Indian in a pink-ball Test.

After having overcome a lean patch of form with a century at Perth, Virat would be raring to continue his golden run in Australia and at the Adelaide Oval.

2# Rohit Sharma | 173 Runs

Indian team captain Rohit Sharma comes second on the list scoring just one half-century in Pink Ball Tests, accumulating 173 runs in five matches at an average of 39. This will be Rohit Sharma’s first Day-Night Test match on foreign soil, as all three of his previous Pink Ball Tests were played in India. 

As an opener, Rohit will need to weather the new ball, especially during twilight and night sessions when the pink ball is at its most ferocious. It will be quite interesting to see how Rohit goes about his business in the upcoming game.

3# Shreyas Iyer | 159 Runs

Shreyas Iyer has played just one day-night Test match and has scored 159 runs in it. He put up knocks of 92 and 67 in the second test between India and Sri Lanka in 2022. India were 86/4 after electing to bat. Iyer shone with a blistering 92 off 98 deliveries, whipping 10 fours and four maximums. He played with the tail-enders and was the last man to be dismissed (252/10). India eventually won by 238 runs.

4# Ajinkya Rahane | 100 Runs

Ajinkya Rahane comes in 4th place with 100 runs in 3 matches. Rahane also scored a half-century against Bangladesh in 2019.

5# Cheteshwar Pujara | 98 Runs

Cheteshwar Pujara is 5th on this list. He has amassed just 98 runs in 3 day-night Test matches. Pujara put up knocks of 55 and 43 against Bangladesh and Australia respectively. 

The second match of the five-match Border–Gavaskar Trophy series between India and Australia will be played in Adelaide from December 6. This will be a day-night test played with the pink ball. 

The good thing for India is that regular captain Rohit Sharma has returned. Apart from this, Shubman Gill is also on the verge of becoming fit. With the return of these two, Indian batting will become stronger. However, the team management will be worried about the playing 11. Fitting Rohit and Gill into a winning combination is a matter of concern.

Also Read: Indian captains to win POTM awards in Australia in Tests

It is considered certain that Devdutt Padikkal will sit on the bench. Apart from this, Dhruv Jurel can also be seen sitting on the bench. The biggest problem will be whether KL Rahul will be sent to open or he will be sent back to number five. Before that let us look at India's statistics in Day-Night Test or Pink Ball Test.

India has played four pink ball tests so far

India has played four day-night tests so far. Out of these, they have won in three, while they have faced defeat in one. Team India has won 75 percent of the matches in the day-night test. The only Test in which the Indian team lost was played in Adelaide four years ago. This was the first Test of India's tour of Australia in the 2020/21 Border–Gavaskar Trophy. Team India, captained by Virat Kohli, had to face a crushing defeat by eight wickets.

What happened in the India-Australia match in Adelaide in 2020?

Batting first in Adelaide, India had scored 244 runs. Cheteshwar Pujara scored 43 runs and Ajinkya Rahane 42 runs. In reply, Australia's first innings was limited to 191 runs. Marnus Labuschagne scored 47 runs and captain Tim Paine scored 73 runs.

The Indian team was devastated in the second innings and was reduced to just 36 runs. This is also India's lowest score in Tests. Cummins and Hazlewood took four and five wickets respectively. India had set a target of 90 runs by taking the lead against Australia. Australia won the match by scoring 93 runs for two wickets. Matthew Wade scored 33 runs, while Joe Burns remained unbeaten on 51 runs.

India played first pink ball test in 2019

India played its first pink ball test against Bangladesh in 2019 at Eden Gardens, Kolkata and won by 46 runs. After this, after playing against Australia in 2020, Team India defeated England by 10 wickets in the day-night test in Ahmedabad in February 2021 and then Sri Lanka by 238 runs in Bengaluru in March 2022. India's highest score in the day-night test is 347/9.

Indian batter who scored most runs in pink ball test

Virat Kohli has scored the most runs for India in the day-night test. He has scored 277 runs in four such matches at an average of 46.16. At the same time, Rohit Sharma is at second place with 173 runs in three matches at an average of 43.25. Shreyas Iyer is at third place in the list. He has scored 155 runs at an average of 79.50. 

Whereas, if we talk about bowlers, Ravichandran Ashwin has taken the most wickets for India in the day-night test. He has taken 18 wickets in four such matches. At the same time, Akshar Patel has taken 14 wickets in two pink ball tests. Umesh Yadav has taken 11 wickets in two such matches.

Also Read: Highest catches dropped percentages since 2011 (Min 100 chances) | Virat tops the list among batters

Highest runs for India in day-night test

Most wickets for India in day-night test

Australia's figures in day night test

Australia has an exceptional record in day night tests. They have played 12 day-night tests so far, out of which they have won 11 while losing only one. What makes their record even more impressive is that their wins have come against different opponents. These include India, England, New Zealand, Pakistan, South Africa, Sri Lanka and West Indies. Australia defeated New Zealand by three wickets in the first international day-night Test in Adelaide in 2015. 

The matter of concern for Australia is that Josh Hazlewood, who wreaked havoc in 2020, will not play in the second Test of the Border–Gavaskar Trophy due to injury.

India beat Prime Minister XI in the IND vs AUS PM XI 2-day practice match at the Manuka Oval in Canberra. The first day's play could not be played on Saturday (30 November) due to rain and on Day 2, the game was reduced to 46 overs per side.

A five-Test series is being played between IND vs AUS. Team India won the first match of this series by 295 runs. The Indian team is currently leading 1-0 in this series. The next match is to be played in Adelaide. This match will be played with pink ball in day-night format. Team India is preparing for this match.

To strengthen its hold in the Pink Ball Test, the Indian team played a two-day practice match against Australia's Prime Minister's XI. Where the India defeated PM XI in a one-sided manner. Team India won this match by 6 wickets.

Also Read: Border–Gavaskar Trophy: India's record in Pink Ball Test

The first day of the practice match played between IND vs AUS PM XI was washed out due to rain. Due to this, the match was played with some new rules on the second day. Where both the teams got a chance to bat 46-46 overs. Whichever team scores the most runs wins.

Indian captain Rohit Sharma won the toss in this match and decided to bowl first. After which the team of Prime Minister XI came on the field to bat first. His team was all out on the score of 240 runs in 43.2 overs.

For that, 19-year-old batsman Sam Konstas scored 107 runs. Harshit Rana took a maximum 4 wickets for India.

In reply, the Indian team played a full 46 overs and scored 257 runs at the loss of 5 wickets. India's score was higher than Australia's. Due to which Team India was declared the winner of this match. 

Gill scored a brilliant half-century 

Returning from injury, Shubman Gill scored a brilliant half-century in this match. He retired after playing an innings of 50 runs in 62 balls. Before this, opener Yashasvi Jaiswal was out after scoring 45 runs. His partner KL Rahul added 27 runs. Captain Rohit Sharma's bat did not work. He could score only 3 runs.

Young Nitish Reddy once again impressed with his batting and scored an inning of 42 runs in 32 balls. Washington Sundar remained unbeaten after scoring 42 runs. Devdutt Padikkal returned unbeaten on 4 runs. Sarfaraz Khan was out on 1 run while Ravindra Jadeja scored 27 runs.

Bhuvneshwar Kumar, the Indian pacer who last played for the Indian team in 2022, recently became the first Indian pacer to take more than 300 T20 wickets during the Syed Mushtaq Ali Tournament 2024. Captaining the Uttar Pradesh team, the medium pacer showcased even at his age, how he can be good with the ball in hand. In the UP vs Himachal Pradesh match, he claimed his 300 T20 wicket. 

Indian bowlers with most T20 wickets

As Bhuvneshwar Kumar became the first Indian pacer to achieve feat, we will give the list of Indian bowlers with most T20 wickets. 

4. Bhuvneshwar Kumar | 304 T20 wickets

The 35-year-old medium pacer has been one of the highest wicket-takers for India in T20I cricket. In T20 internationals for India, Bhuvnewshwar Kumar has taken 90 wickets in 87 T20I matches at an outstanding economy rate of 6.96, including two five-wicket hauls. 

In Indian Premier League, while playing for Pune Warriors and Sunrisers Hyderabad, Buvi has taken 181 wickets in 176 matches at an excellent economy rate of 7.56 runs per over. In total, Bhuvneshwar so far has taken 304 wickets in T20 cricket in 290 matches at 7.29 runs per over.

Read Also | Is this the end of the road for Bhuvneshwar Kumar? UP ignores the pacer for the Ranji Trophy 2024-25

He stands as the fourth highest wicket-taker among Indians in T20 cricket and is the only Indian fast bowler to take more than 300 wickets in shortest format of the game.

3. Ravichandran Ashwin | 310 T20 Wickets

A test legend in his own rights, Ravichandran Ashwin had started his career with the T20s. It was Chennai Super Kings who had found the spark in him which helped him gain the exposure to evantually get selected for India and flourish as an all-format bowler. The off-spinner from Tamil Nadu has played 324 T20 games so far in his career and took 324 wickets at an astonishing economoy rate of 7.06. 

In IPL, he has played for teams like CSK, Kings XI Punjab, Rajasthan Royals, Rising Pune Supergiants and Delhi Capitals along with playing for the Indian team and Tamil Nadu in his career. In his 212 IPL games, he has taken 180 wickets at 7.12 runs per over. For India, in T20Is, Ashwin has the off-spinner took 72 wickets in only 65 games. 

2. Piyush Chawla | 319 T20 Wickets

The leg spinner has been playing T20s since 2007 and has played a total 297 T20 matches so far in his career. In his career, he has taken 319 T20 wickets with an economy rate of 7.53. However, he only played 7 T20 internationals for India and took only 4 wickets for the country.

In the Indian Premier League, he has featured in 192 games for Chennai Super Kings, Kings XI Punjab, Kolkata Knight Riders, Mumbai Indians. Chawla has been one of the most successful bowlers in the tournament with 192 wickets with an economy rate of 7.96 runs per over.

Moreover, he has played for overseas teams like Sussex in Vitality Blast Tournament in England. 

1. Yuzvendra Chahal | 363 T20 Wickets

Yuzvendra Chahal is perhaps the most Indian successful bowlers in the shortest format of the game. The leg-spinner from Haryana started his career with IPL teams like Mumbai Indians and Royal Challengers Bangalore and made a name for yourself to get into the Indian team.

Chahal spent eight seasons with Royal Challengers Bangalore and with 113 wickets, is still their highest wicket-taker in Indian Premier League history. However, RCB decided not to retain him in the 2022 mega auction, and Chahal headed to Rajasthan Royals. 

In IPL 2025 Mega acution, he became the most expensive spinner in the tournament's history as Punjab Kings bought him for INR 18 cr. Till now, in IPL, Chahal has taken 205 wickets, and is the most successful bowler in the tournament's history. For India, he has played 80 T20I games and once was the highest wicket-taker for India in T20Is with 96 wickets.

Indian men's cricket team will play a single day of match practice with the pink ball to prepare for the Adelaide's day-night Test after Saturday's play against the Prime Minister's XI was abandoned due to rain at the Canberra's Manuka Oval. India were supposed the play a two-day practice match. But, it is now reduced to a single-day match due to rain.

The men in blue were hoping to get going with the preparation for the pink ball test match after dismantaling the Aussie team in the first test at Perth. However, the Indian test captain Rohit Sharma arrived late and along with him, Shubman Gill, who was injured in the first test, were keen to get some practice match before the second test.

Rohit did have some go in the nets against the Indian bowlers while Shubman Gill had a great traninig session at Canberra after returning from the thumb injury.

Shubman Gill hits the nets for the first time since his thumb injury that forced him to miss the Perth Test.

Here’s how the star batter is shaping up! #TeamIndia | #AUSvIND | @ShubmanGill pic.twitter.com/sZtbvQhgLn— BCCI (@BCCI) November 29, 2024

"It was my first day (training) and I just wanted to get a feel to see how the injury is reacting, if there was any jarring or soreness.

"It actually went much better than I expected and I'm very happy with that," Shubman Gill told the BCCI media after the training. If the weather allows, Gautam Gambhir and management will be able to take a look at the young batter.

In his absensce, Devdutt Padikkal was given a chance in the first test, who failed to score big and Gill will surely come straight in the playing eleven. With Rohit coming back, KL Rahul will be pushed back in the middle order to strenthen the batting line up. 

For Australia, Josh Hazlewood has been ruled out of the pink-ball test due to side injury. He will be replaced by Scott Boland in the squad, who will play for the Primer Minister's XI as well. 

Both teams will play a 50-overs per side match.

Read Also | Indian captains to win POTM awards in Australia in Tests

Prime Minister's XI v India day two session times

First innings: 9:10 am-12.40 pm IST

Interval: 12.40 pm-1.10 pm IST

Second innings: 1.10 pm- 4.40 pm IST

Squads for the Prime Minister's XI v India match

Prime Minister's XI squad: Jack Edwards (c), Charlie Anderson, Mahli Beardman, Scott Boland, Jack Clayton, Aidan O'Connor, Ollie Davies, Jayden Goodwin, Sam Harper, Hanno Jacobs, Sam Konstas, Lloyd Pope, Matthew Renshaw, Jem Ryan

India squad: Rohit Sharma (c), Jasprit Bumrah, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Abhimanyu Easwaran, Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, KL Rahul, Rishabh Pant, Sarfaraz Khan, Dhruv Jurel, Ravichandran Ashwin, R Jadeja, Mohammed Siraj, Akash Deep, Prasidh Krishna, Harshit Rana, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Washington Sundar.