India Sent Big Warning Ahead Of Zimbabwe Clash In T20 World Cup: "No Hope"

India's T20 World Cup 2026 semifinal dreams suffered a massive setback after the Suryakumar Yadav-led side suffered a crushing loss against South Africa. Things got worse when West Indies defeated Zimbabwe by 106 runs to take a big step towards qualification. As a result, India need to win both of their games by huge margins in order to keep themselves in the Top 4 race. Former India skipper Kris Srikkanth gave a honest assessment of the qualification scenarios and although he believes that West Indies have the advantage in the semis race, he was quick to point out that Zimbabwe can be extremely tricky to play against at the MA Chidambaram Stadium on Thursday.

"West Indies are one step ahead of India now with the crushing win over Zimbabwe. Everything boils down to the South Africa-West Indies match for India. Yet, playing on the Chennai wicket, Zimbabwe is a bigger threat to India than the West Indies," Srikkanth said on his YouTube channel.

"Because now the West Indies have hopes of qualification whereas Zimbabwe has no hope, so they'll play carefree cricket. It will be game over for India if South Africa beats West Indies. Though South Africa also has to beat Zimbabwe, then," he added.

It was a disappointing show from the India batters during the loss against South Africa as the co-hosts were bundled out for just 111. Srikkanth said that the players could not handle the pressure of chasing a tricky target like 187 and urged them to bounce back ahead of their next match.

"It may look like the Indian batters slogged and got out against South Africa. But it's the pressure of chasing a big score like 187, and how the openers, especially, are under immense pressure in such a case. Under that pressure, sometimes you'll slog and get out. That's why Ishan Kishan played that shot and got out. The mental pressure made them slog and get out," he said.

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