Zimbabwe National Cricket Team vs India National Cricket Team Timeline
India have arrived in Harare with a young team led by Shubman Gill and National Cricket Academy chief coach VVS Laxman for a five-match T20 series against Zimbabwe. Their roster features both fringe players as well as experienced senior ones.
Revised Sentence: B Sai Sudharsan and Jitesh Sharma will step in as replacements for Sanju Samson and Shivam Dube, who remain trapped on Barbados due to Hurricane Beryl. This comes ahead of the much-anticipated clash between the two teams, continuing the Zimbabwe national cricket team vs India national cricket team timeline.
History of Zimbabwe National Cricket Team vs India National Cricket Teams
Zimbabwe and India played out an extremely pivotal contest. For Zimbabwe, this match represented an opportunity to challenge a top-tier side and advance in ODI rankings; while for India it served as an opportunity to demonstrate progress and keep momentum flowing forward for their World Cup preparations.
Zimbabwe was an early contender in world cricket during the early 1990s, winning numerous one-day international tournaments and regularly facing off against Pakistan, England and India – the big three at that time. Unfortunately, in 2000s as political instability led to land reforms and economic challenges leading to disputes between Zimbabwe cricket board and players which lead them into exile in protest and numerous players leaving Zimbabwe altogether in protest of being banned from international cricket competition.
Zimbabwe was plagued with economic issues but still managed to produce world-class cricketers such as Andy Flower (wicketkeeper/batsman), Heath Streak and Murray Goodwin (batsman). Additionally, Zimbabwe enjoyed great success in one-day internationals against all Test-playing nations except Australia and India and even reached multiple multi-national ODI competition finals.
Zimbabwe ended this period in 2006 when they decided to voluntarily withdraw from Test cricket due to political interference and governance problems, though they continued playing ODIs and T20Is during this suspension period. While this decision was shocking at the time, they staged a remarkable comeback starting in 2011 and now play Test matches again.
Preparations of Zimbabwe National Cricket Team vs India National Cricket Teams
Shubman Gill led India to victory at World Cup 2017, earning them an invitation to tour Zimbabwe for five T20I matches against their hosts. They were welcomed warmly with open arms as seen exiting their arrival gate as recorded in video posted by Zimbabwe Cricket on their official Twitter handle. Coach VVS Laxman of National Cricket Academy will accompany them throughout their stay in Zimbabwe.
India’s ODI and T20I series against Zimbabwe marks a new era for their Men in Blue team. Following veteran players like Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Ravindra Jadeja’s retirement from T20Is, selectors have decided to play young talent like Abhishek Sharma, Riyan Parag, Dhruv Jurel Rinku Singh Washington Sundar in a squad led by Shubman Gill as captain.
Sai Sudharsan and Jitesh Sharma have been included in the squad for the first two matches as replacements for Sanju Samson and Shivam Dube who were left stranded due to Hurricane Beryl.
Before they begin their campaign against Zimbabwean opponents, the team has been given several days to adapt to conditions in Zimbabwe and experiment with tactics.
The ODI and T20I games will take place from July 6-14, with the final match to take place on 14 July. Live coverage can be found on Star Sports and Sony Sport in India with matches starting at 4.30 pm IST (1 pm local time) on weekends and Mondays while weekday games start at 1 pm IST.
Toss for Zimbabwe National Cricket Team vs India National Cricket Teams
Zimbabwe captain Sikandar Raza won the toss and elected to field against India at Harare Sports Club, substituting Ruturaj Gaikwad and Khaleel Ahmed with Mukesh Kumar and Riyan Parag, respectively. Indian bowlers have performed consistently during the series; Shubman Gill’s side hopes that winning streak can continue in game five.
Washington Sundar has completed the first over and Zimbabwe’s opener Johnathan Campbell is back in the pavilion having been caught off Yashasvi Jaiswal off an arm-ball delivery from Indian spinner Washington Sundar – this wicket comes at an important juncture given that their hosts have lost four wickets within five overs.
Washington Sundar of Delhi continues his good form with two consecutive dot balls in the second over, but Zimbabwean opener Tendai Chatara takes an RBI single as India score 152 runs in their opening over.
Khaleel bowled the third over and Indian batsmen were wary against his slow delivery. Sanju attempted to play-and-miss but was dismissed at non-striker’s end. Riyan Parag was brought in and Indian batsmen continued their dominance over Zimbabwe’s slow bowlers.
Indians reach 100 in the fourth over, needing 50 more runs to win, when Sanju smacked his 300th six in T20 cricket by sending one flying out of the stadium. Soon afterwards Tushar Deshpande is introduced for his debut bowling wide balls as Marumani attempts and fails to hit one out of the ground. A dot ball followed before Shivam Dube overthrew for a boundary that led directly to an overthrow by Tushar Deshpande and went straight for six runs!
Match of Zimbabwe National Cricket Team vs India National Cricket Teams
Shubman Gill and Ruturaj Gaikwad put India in good stead to post a substantial total on an unpredictable pitch, scoring half-centuries each to set India on their way. Zimbabwe bowlers and fielders, however, failed to compete, taking just two wickets each from Blessing Muzarabani and Sikandar Raza as hosts.
Indian batsmen were undeterred from chasing down their target of 236 runs in 45 overs; India’s spinners Khaleel Ahmed and Avesh Khan proved unplayable on Harare’s pitch while Mukesh Kumar and Ravi Bishnoi each took two wickets each to give India a 2-1 series win.
Harare Sports Club played host to this match and offered plenty of spin and bounce. Sikandar Raza won the toss and elected to bowl first; Zimbabwe skipper Sikandar hoped that with time the wicket would improve; but also noted that his team are fighters and will do everything possible to take back control in this series.
India got off to an excellent start and quickly took control of the game, reaching 147/4 after the first Powerplay and reaching their target comfortably thereafter. Zimbabwe struggled against India, scoring quickly but eventually being bowled out for 125 runs at the end. They admitted their team lacked depth while captain Sikandar Raza acknowledged they’ve struggled against non-Test playing nations before but are ready for any challenge ahead. With Rahul Dravid having left as captain, VVS Laxman will provide invaluable experience and expertise into his new position of interim coach; providing this young squad with vital experience and knowledge from his vast experience and knowledge gained through experience as Rahul Dravid did before his tenure ended as coach; giving this young squad all that much-needed expertise and experience from his vast knowledge and experience gained during his tenure with Rahul Dravid passing onto VVS Laxman to provide experience and knowledge to provide continuity while working alongside Rahul Dravid provided during his tenure as captain; his tenure had officially concluded; VVS Laxman took his position and provided leadership during his tenure as interim coach bringing his experience and knowledge that Rahul Dravid.
Final score
India batsmen had difficulty facing Zimbabwe bowlers who put in an impressive showing and won by 13 runs, taking an early advantage in the series 2-0. Zimbabwe enjoyed this momentous triumph after suffering their initial World T20 tournament defeat to Australia at home.
Indian team composition for this match-up differs dramatically from that seen in their last match-up against Zimbabwe. Big names like Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli did not travel to Harare; but some of India’s finest T20 cricket players such as Hardik Pandya, Rishabh Pant, Suryakumar Yadav, and Jasprit Bumrah will still feature prominently.
Abhishek Sharma and Riyan Parag are making their T20 debuts for India this weekend, showing great promise previously but now facing off against some of the finest talent in the game. Both players face some stiff competition but remain confident they can hold their own against some of its premier names.
The second over began stalemated between both teams, neither scoring any runs in it. Ngarava then got back onto bowling again and unleashed a wide delivery to Abhishek; his attempted cut fell for four runs! Abhishek quickly hit one flying to hit six! Unfortunately for Ngarava though, his last ball of this over was a dot ball!
