India, Feb. 26 -- Bogged down by top-order brittleness and under pressure after a heavy loss, defending champions India would need every ounce of resilience they can muster when they take on a tricky Zimbabwe in their second Super 8 match of the T20 World Cup on Thursday. Winning this contest by a big margin is critical to India's existence in the ICC showpiece given the beating their net run rate (-3.80) took after the 76-run defeat to South Africa on Sunday. But for that, India need to fix the issues surrounding the opening and No.3 slots.

Coming into this World Cup, the reigning champions rode on excellence from Ishan Kishan and Abhishek Sharma at the pole position to quell the bilateral challenges against South Africa and New Zealand...