“The feeling in the changing room, the feeling of all the players and staff, is that of elation and joy.”
Those were the words of Zimbabwe's assistant coach Dion Ebrahim last Thursday night, speaking in the quiet confines of a hushed Khettarama. Zimbabwe had just dismantled Sri Lanka, chasing down 179 — the second-highest successful chase ever at the venue — to close out the group stage with a near-perfect record — a washout against Ireland the only thing preventing them from going four in four.
For Ebrahim, the scenes were an echo of the past. He was part of the tail-end of Zimbabwe's "Golden Generation" that reached the Super Six in 2003. But the two decades since have been defined more by "what ifs" than "what is." From the high of the 2022 T20 World Cup to the ignominy of failing to qualify in 2024, the road back to the elite has been long and often heartbreaking.
Fast forward 18 months from those lows, and the 2026 T20 World Cup leaderboard tells a story that few dared to predict. India. South Africa. West Indies. Zimbabwe. These are the four teams that will make up group one of the Super Eight. But more importantly, they are still unbeaten in the competition.
In a group that featured a wounded Australia and a Sri Lankan side playing with home-field advantage, Zimbabwe have quite frankly dominated. They bulldozed Oman, outfought an Australian side with a confidence that belied their lowly ICC ranking, and by the time they arrived in Colombo for the dead-rubber against Sri Lanka, they took on the game like genuine contenders.
But just how did a team that missed the previous tournament become one of the form sides in this tournament? The journey didn't start under stadium floodlights but in the gruelling sub-regional qualifiers in Kenya. Against the likes of Rwanda and Tanzania, Zimbabwe began a streak that has now stretched to a staggering 13-0 in this World Cup cycle.
"Over the last 18 months, the results in terms of wins haven't always been there," Ebrahim conceded, reflecting on narrow losses over the past two years to the likes of Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Afghanistan and Pakistan.
"But there has been a consistent improvement in small areas. What we're seeing now is a culmination of those key areas--certain KPIs we've looked to improve. It's an incremental improvement over a longer period.
"I think the most heartening thing that we have seen over these three games is that we have had winning performances across the board both with the ball, the bat and in the field by that cross section of older players or senior players and the youngsters making big impacts and playing winning roles in the game."
At the heart of this resurgence have been three pillars representing the past, present, and future of their game.
Twenty-two-year-old Brian Bennett has emerged as the tournament's breakout superstar. In three innings, he is yet to be dismissed, posting scores of 48, 64, and 63 with a maturity tailored for the biggest stage. On the bowling front, Blessing Muzarabani sits as the joint-highest wicket-taker in the Super Eight field alongside India's Varun Chakravarthy.
Then, there is the captain. Sikandar Raza, the "39-year-old youngster". "I think genuinely we're in the presence of brilliance," gushed Ebrahim. "Sikandar is a global superstar. He's up there with the greats; he will go down as one of the greats."
With their sails full of momentum and a choral fanbase following their every move, Zimbabwe now heads to India for the Super Eights. It is a stage they have been desperate to reach, one that offers a rare chance to test their "process" against the absolute elite in unfamiliar conditions.
"I'm actually excited because I haven't been to different conditions, and it's my first time in India," said opening batter Tadiwanashe Marumani.
Captain Raza, meanwhile, is already looking toward the February 23 clash against the West Indies. "It's showtime," he offered with quiet confidence. "We put our best foot forward, and what happens, happens."
By every official metric and ranking, Zimbabwe will enter the next round as the underdogs. It is a label they wear gladly. As Ebrahim puts it: "It's a place we like to operate in." —ESPN