Chennai, Feb 27 (IANS) India batters Abhishek Sharma and Tilak Varma have been jointly named the Impact Player of the Match after an impressive batting display in the second match of the T20 World Cup 2026 Super 8s against Zimbabwe, which helped the team register a 72-run win at the MA Chidambaram Stadium on Thursday.

After a poor start in the tournament, Abhishek made a great comeback against Zimbabwe and scored his first half-century of the tournament. He played an excellent knock of 55 runs off 30 balls. While Tilak, who was also struggling in the middle throughout the tournament, broke the barrier scored 44 runs off just 16 balls.

Team India’s doctor, Rizwan Khan, announced the names of the winners. He also explained the reason behind naming two players as the Impact Player of the Match.

“So, big day, big game. I think it all started when Hardik addressed everyone in the huddle, and it was a very passionate speech, and it was great to see everyone come out punching. Punch after punch, punch after punch, I thought that was a great performance by everyone. Everyone did so well that we are actually spoiled for choice, and we have not one but two impact players for today,” he said in a video released by BCCI.

“Our first impact player started the tournament with a gut issue, and when things were not going great, I felt everyone in this room always had that gut feeling, ‘ki sab theek ho jayega’ and today what you did takes a lot of guts. Our second impact player also had an issue before the tournament. The innings which I saw today, I can only describe as all guns blazing. It was literally the knockout punch of the day,” he added.

After receiving the Impact Player of the match medal, Abhishek thanked the coaching staff and the skipper for trusting him.

“I know I’ve spent a lot of time with the doctor in the first few days, but finally coming back and doing something and contributing for the team, it’s really special, and I think one thing I want to mention is that all these days I was feeling that the team has more belief than me when I wasn’t doing so well, but getting all that from the players, captain, coach, everyone, it was really special, and it actually made me think that I’m going to do really well in one of the matches, and finally it happened,” Abhishek said.

While Tilak also echoed the same sentiments, “For me, I also want to say the same thing. I was really struggling before the tournament. The way the doctor and the team have been supporting me was really nice, and the thing is, I was struggling in this tournament, but special thanks to the support staff. They kept backing me and supporting me, that’s just a matter of one innings. So, it came at the right moment, and I’m really happy,” Tilak said.

Meanwhile, India will face the West Indies in a must-win encounter at the Eden Gardens Stadium in Kolkata on Sunday.

–IANS

sds/bc