India not going to hold back, warns Zimbabwe coach Justin Sammons ahead of Super 8 showdown

Chennai: Zimbabwe head coach Justin Sammons has sounded the alarm for his squad, predicting that India will unleash the same brand of fearless aggression that the West Indies used to dismantle his side by 107 runs on Monday. With both teams entering Thursday’s Super Eight contest at the MA Chidambaram Stadium in must-win territory, Sammons believes the lessons from the Caribbean onslaught must be absorbed instantly if Zimbabwe are to keep their T20 World Cup hopes alive.

“They’re not going to hold back,” Sammons said of India, who arrive in Chennai smarting from a defeat to South Africa. “We know the way India is going to come out and it’s going to be very similar to the way West Indies approached their innings.”

The Zimbabwean camp conceded that tactical rigidity cost them dearly in that record chase, where the West Indies plundered 254 for 6. Sammons admitted his bowlers became predictable, a flaw that will be ruthlessly exploited by an Indian line-up spearheaded by Suryakumar Yadav unless rectified.

“There will be good learnings from that and how we deal with that, under pressure in the moment,” Sammons noted. “How do we stay calm and just think on our feet and also just try and change things up a little bit, disrupt the rhythm of the batters?”

Chennai’s relaid surface, traditionally a haven for spin, has offered surprising pace and bounce during this tournament, complicating plans for Zimbabwe’s pace-off merchants Sikandar Raza and Blessing Muzarabani. Sammons hinted that the larger boundaries could offer some respite, but only if his attack varies pace and length more intelligently than it did against the West Indies.

Despite being cast as underdogs, Zimbabwe remain intent on troubling one of the competition’s favourites. “Chennai will be a bit bigger and it probably will be a little bit more at ease in that aspect there,” the coach said, underscoring the need for smarter execution rather than wholesale overhaul.

With India desperate to reboot their campaign and Zimbabwe aiming to prove their fighting spirit, Thursday night’s clash shapes as a high-stakes shootout where one false step could end a tournament dream.