Why Graeme Cremer is Not Playing Today in IND vs ZIM T20 World Cup Match?

The 48th match of the ICC Men's T20 World Cup 2026 is being played between India and Zimbabwe at the MA Chidambaram Stadium, Chennai. The match is a crucial one for the Men in Blue as they lost their first encounter against South Africa. India will need to win this match at any cost to keep their semi-final hopes alive.

Suryakumar Yadav's luck didn't favor at the coin toss and Zimbabwe elected to field first. Skipper Sikandar Raza revealed that their experienced bowler Graeme Cremer was dropped from the playing XI for the IND vs ZIM T20 World Cup 2026 match.

Why Graeme Cremer Is Not Playing Today Against India?

Zimbabwe's bowler, Graeme Cremer, is an experienced cricketer who has been with the team for several years now. However, citing a tactical chance, Raza informed that they have dropped Cremer from the encounter against India. Tinotenda Maposa was included in the playing XI as Graeme Cremer replacement.

The 39-year-old spinner, Graeme Cremer, has picked up three wickets in as many matches this tournament so far at a decent economy rate of 8.16. Maposa, on the other hand, is playing his first match of the tournament today. Zimbabwe might have brought in an extra pacer due to the recent record at Chepauk, which hasn't favored the spin bowling.

Zimbabwe bowlers haven't started the game well as India's batters went berserk right from the start. A few dropped catches and misfields didn't help the visitors either. It seems like Zimbabwe are missing Cremer, who was once among the best spinners in the world. This match is also important for them as a defeat will knock them out of this year's ICC T20 World Cup.

Tinotenda Maposa Leaks 40 Runs in First Two Overs

Zimbabwe's move to include Tinotenda Maposa didn't work out well as he was taken for a plenty in his initial overs. With Abhishek Sharma at the crease, Maposa started off with a dot ball. However, he was taken to the cleaners in the next five balls and conceded 23 runs in the whole over.

Then, he was brought into the 13th over of the innings, in which he conceded 17 runs. However, he managed to scalp out the wicket of the best T20 batsman in the world, Abhishek Sharma. Despite the big wicket, his figures of 1-40 in two overs shows that he had a difficult outing.