Former Zimbabwe captain Alistair Campbell has tipped Elton Chigumbura's side to cause an upset when they take on Pakistan and India in their upcoming World Cup encounters.

Zimbabwe take on Pakistan on March 1 before taking on Ireland (March 7) and India (March 14).

“The match against Ireland is crucial to our chances of progressing, but we will have to beat Pakistan or India, too. It is not impossible – far from it.

“But we will have to find a way of limiting the damage in the final overs. The best way, of course, is to take more early wickets,” Campbell wrote in his column for International Cricket Council (ICC) website.

Campbell said that the tournament has had both good and bad for Zimbabwe. “We’re still alive with the possibility of a quarter-final place remaining a reality — not just statistically, but because we are playing well enough to produce an upset.”

Zimbabwe has put up promising performances so far, going down by just 62 runs in reply to South Africa’s mammoth 339 and losing the contest by 73 runs in pursuit of West Indies' 362 (D/L method revised total).

They registered their first points on the table by claiming a four-wicket victory against the United Arab Emirates (UAE).

With former Pakistan coach Dav Whatmore at the helm, Zimbabwe will be looking to inflict more pain on Misbah-ul-Haq's side, which lost both of its matches comprehensively to India and West Indies, on Sunday.

Though Pakistan is considered a far better side than Zimbabwe, there is an interesting fact which would worry Misbah and co: Zimbabwe — in all three of its previous innings — managed to pile up 250 or more runs, while Pakistan has failed to go beyond 250 so far.

Zimbabwe would be eyeing victories over Pakistan and associates Ireland to book a place in the top eight.

However, defeating in-form India would be a difficult task as the men in blue have clicked at the right time by beating their arch-rivals Pakistan and tournament favourites South Africa.