But Kishan first made 66 runs for the third wicket with skipper Shreyas Iyer (25) and then a 94 for the subsequent wicket with Tilak as the tourists overcame the early wobble.

Kishan paced his innings to a nicety as he focused on giving some stability to Indian innings. The left-hander brought his fifty in 31 balls, but the next 31 runs came in 13 balls as he pressed on the accelerator.

The onside play was the hallmark of his innings, peppering the regions around mid-wicket with constant big hits.

Off-spinner Brian Bennett was clobbered for two fours to that part of the field while pacer Brad Evans was punished for 4, 4 and a 6 through the onside.

Tilak, on the other hand, doused the talks about his strike-rate for now, playing a sensational supporting innings and reached fifty in 23 balls.

The left-hander smoked Zimbabwe’s best bowler Blessing Muzarabani for three fours in a row, and the third one was a peach – a nice, little dab behind the point using the bowler’s pace. Brute power was on display too when Tilak lifted Evans for a six over mid-wicket.

Their assault was so faultless as India amassed 61 runs in the last five overs to place themselves at a safe distance from Zimbabwe at this point.

Before Kishan marshalled India’s innings around him, India lost Abhishek Sharma and Vaibhav Sooryavanshi early.

Abhishek softly lobbed Muzarabani to Ryan Burl at point. Sooryavanshi looked set for another fifty reaching 20 off 9 balls that contained a sequence of 4, 6, 4, 4 off Richard Ngarava.

But Ngarava managed to extract quick revenge, as Sooryavanshi skied a into-the-body bouncer to Muzarabani at mid-on.

However, India did not give Zimbabwe many more moments of joy for the remainder of the innings.

Sharma’s form took a nosedive during the initial stages of this year’s T20 World Cup, wherein he was dismissed for a duck on three consecutive occasions. The rut effectively ended with a 55 against this very opposition, but perhaps Zimbabwe seemed intent on testing whether the revival was real. Accordingly, they began the bowling with Sikandar Raza – a right-arm everything spinner, bowling off-spin on this particular occasion, which proved to be Sharma’s Achilles’ heel at the World Cup.

The plan did not reap rewards, as the opener struck two boundaries off that first over. Both were in the extra cover region, but the manner of shots was contrasting – the first was lofted with elegance, the second was slapped with disdain. The promise, however, proved fleeting. An over later, Muzarabani dismissed him with a delivery that was far from the best he bowled all afternoon.

Abhishek Sharma’s numbers in T20Is:

Period	Runs	Matches	Average	Strike Rate	50s	100s
Before 2026 T20 World Cup	1297	38	37.05	194.74	8	2
Since 2026 T20 World Cup	330	17	19.41	165	3	0

Sharma’s numbers have significantly steered south since the T20 World Cup. His average – 37.05 before the competition – is now 19.41. Not that he has not altered his approach in a desperate bid to extend his stays in the middle, either. His strike rate, which was nearly 200 till this February, has deteriorated to 165 in the last half-year.

Scrutiny over Sharma’s place in the side, therefore, would hardly be misplaced – not only because of his own prolonged struggles, but also because of the standards India have applied to their other top-order batters. Sanju Samson, the undisputed showstopper from the T20 World Cup with scores of 97*, 89 and 89 in the quarter-final, semi-final and final respectively, was given only three opportunities after the tournament before being axed from the Zimbabwe squad. Ishan Kishan, though retained, was demoted to the number three slot after underwhelming displays against the Netherlands and South Africa.

With every puzzle of the great Indian cricketing jigsaw being transient and movable, there has been an element of permanence and immobility about Abhishek Sharma. For how long, though, is the question.