ZIM vs IND: In a surprising upset, a young Team India was defeated by Zimbabwe in the first T20I of the five-match series on Saturday, July 6, at Harare Sports Club. Despite chasing a modest target of 116, the Men in Blue were bowled out for 102 in 19.5 overs, with captain Shubman Gill top-scoring with 31 runs off 29 balls.
Zimbabwe defended the lowest ever total against India in T20i history. 🤯
---Advertisement---– Some commendable performance by Zimbabwe. 👏 pic.twitter.com/vNrzTG2luq
— Mufaddal Vohra (@mufaddal_vohra) July 6, 2024
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IND raring to amends vs ZIM in 2nd T20I
Following this disappointing loss, India has little time to recover as they face Zimbabwe again in the second T20I on Sunday, July 7, at the same venue. The young squad is eager to redeem themselves after tarnishing the legacy left by the senior team.
The team needs significant improvement in their batting, particularly in building partnerships during the middle overs, which was a key factor in their defeat. Three players made their debut for India in the first T20I: Riyan Parag, Dhruv Jurel, and Abhishek Sharma. Unfortunately, all three had a challenging game, with Sharma getting out for a four-ball duck, Parag scoring 2 off 3 balls, and Jurel managing just 6 off 14 balls. On a brighter note, Ravi Bishnoi excelled with the ball, taking 4 wickets for 13 runs in his four overs. Despite the poor performance in the first T20I, the team management is likely to stick with the same playing XI, giving the underperforming young players more opportunities.
In contrast, Zimbabwe will be thrilled with their players’ clinical performance that brought down the reigning world champions. Captain Sikandar Raza was the standout performer, contributing significantly with both bat and ball. Raza scored 17 runs off 19 balls and took 3 wickets for 25 runs, including the crucial dismissals of Shubman Gill, Ravi Bishnoi, and Mukesh Kumar.
Team India Probable Playing XI
Shubman Gill (C), Abhishek Sharma, RD Gaikwad, R Parag, RK Singh, DC Jurel (wk), Washington Sundar, Ravi Bishnoi, Avesh Khan, KK Ahmed, Mukesh Kumar
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