T20 World Cup 2022: "With the win against Pakistan, it's given us a huge amount of belief that we can beat any side in the tournament" - Zimbabwe skipper Craig Ervine ahead of India clash

Zimbabwe captain Craig Ervine has stated that their victory over Pakistan has injected an enormous amount of self-belief within the team. Ervine hopes it will do them a world of good in their final Super 12 encounter of the T20 World Cup against India on Sunday, November 6.

Zimbabwe, who are out of semi-final contention after winning only one out of their three completed games, will next face India in Melbourne. The African nation will aim to upset the Men in Blue and put their knockout qualification chances in jeopardy.

Zimbabwe earlier defeated Pakistan by a solitary run, their only win in the Super 12 stage so far.

Speaking ahead of the game at the iconic Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG), Ervine believes that beating Pakistan has massively boosted their self-confidence. The middle-order batter is relishing the prospect of playing against some of the best players in the world, including Virat Kohli.

He was quoted as saying by the ICC:

"With the win against Pakistan, it's given us a huge amount of belief that we can beat any side in the tournament. I don't think that will change going into tomorrow's game.

"This is a great opportunity to bowl against some of the best guys in the world, so there's no reason why guys would not want to actually get out there and produce the goods. How often do you get the opportunity to put Virat Kohli in your pocket? I'm pretty sure that our fast bowlers will be raring to go come tomorrow."

It's worth noting that Zimbabwe have beaten India twice in the shortest format, with both of those wins coming in Harare in 2015 and 2016.

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"I don't think we have any plans against Virat" - Craig Ervine

Virat Kohli is currently the highest run-getter of the tournament. (Credits: Getty)

Kohli is currently the highest run-scorer at the ongoing T20 World Cup with 220 runs from four games with the aid of three unbeaten half-centuries.

Ervine stated that Zimbabwe have no specific plans to tackle Kohli as he backed the star Indian batter to handle any situation efficiently. He explained:

"I don't think we have any plans against Virat. I think he's just too good a player. A lot of the guys you can dissect so many different theories, and at the end of the day, if you come out and hit a good area, use your change-ups, all those sort of things, I don't think that special plans really work for these guys because they're so good at adapting to different conditions and different situations."

A win for the Men in Blue will put them in the semi-finals. It will also mean that Pakistan's chances of reaching the knockout stage will become bleak.

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