Not Samson! This 32 year old star will play against Zimbabwe, will become Team India’s ‘trump card’

New Delhi. Two big Super-8 matches are to be played today in the T20 World Cup 2026. In the first match, there is a clash between South Africa and West Indies, while the evening match will be played between India and Zimbabwe. Indian fans are going to keep an eye on both these matches, because to remain in the race for the semi-finals, India will have to win over Zimbabwe, before that South Africa will have to defeat West Indies. If West Indies defeats Zimbabwe in the day’s match, it will be almost impossible for India to reach the top-4. There is a clash between India and Zimbabwe at the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai. After the shameful defeat against South Africa, many big changes can be seen in the playing-11 of this match, in which the return of Akshar Patel is considered certain.

Team India’s former head coach Ravi Shastri also believes that India should include 32-year-old star all-rounder Akshar Patel in the playing eleven in its second Super-8 match. The management’s decision to keep Axar Patel out against South Africa had surprised everyone. Especially when he is also playing the role of vice-captain in the team. After the defeat, this decision of the coach and captain was heavily criticized.

Axar Patel’s return to the playing-11 with Washington Sundar out is considered certain. However, Ravi Shastri says that both Sundar and Akshar should be fed together in Chennai. Shastri said, ‘Akshar Patel will have to be brought back in the team. The team needs his experience. I believe that both Akshar and Sundar should be fed. With this the team will have an additional option. Because on any day it can happen that one bowler does not perform well, like it happened with Varun Chakraborty on Sunday.

The former Indian head coach further said, ‘If Axar Patel plays, he can bat at number 8. Hardik Pandya is at number 5, Shivam Dubey is at number 6 and Washington Sundar is at number 7. Akshar can also bat at number 5. If eight batsmen together are not able to score a good score in T20 cricket, then there is something wrong, especially when there is so much strength in the team. The shortcoming of the team is that it is not giving itself an additional bowling option, which according to me is very important. Former Australian captain Ricky Ponting also advocated the inclusion of Axar Patel in the playing eleven.