India lost the first match by 13 runs, nut the second match was the point from when the Men In Blue made a U-turn in the series. Abhishek Sharma, Ruturaj Gaikwad and Rinku Singh ripped Zimbabwe bowlers. The chase from Zimbabwe that followed, was never on point and they had to take a heavy 100-run defeat.

This continued on in the third T20i, though the Zimbabwe bowlers were not as bad as compared to previous match. Unfortunately, Zimbabwe team failed again, as they fell short in the chase y 23 runs.

The fourth match offered a bit of hope for Zimbabwe as the team finally put up a score of 157 runs. However, their horrible bowling continued as India easily chased the target with 10 wickets remaining.

In the final T20I, Zimbabwe managed to restrict India to 167 for 6. However their problems with batting continued as before and got wrapped up for just 125 runs. This resulted in them losing the match by 42 runs and the series 4-1.

After the match, Zimbabwe skipper Sikandar Raza praised Blessing Muzarbani’s consistent bowling performance through the whole series. However he also accepted that their batting needs a massive improvement and their fielding was well below expectations.

“I thought Blessing bowled well the whole series. Batting-wise, we are still below par, but we are starting to rectify the problems at the top. You are going to have bad games here and there. The grey area for me will remain our attitude in the field, we are still making a lot of mistakes, that’s controllable, we are going to keep working hard and hopefully keep getting better,” Raza said at the post-match presentation.

“My workload needs to be managed. I haven’t played any four-day cricket in the last two years post my surgeries. My shoulder isn’t 100%, I don’t want to be a guy who just gets a jersey. I need to go back, respect my domestic cricket and also respect my domestic cricketers who have put a lot of runs. I will go back to play domestic cricket and test my own fitness. I am still available for Test match cricket but at this point of time, I am not because I haven’t played a lot of four-day cricket. I’ll leave for Manchester for The Hundred in a few days time, I am looking forward to that,” he concluded.

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Young players stole the light with the bat through the whole series against Zimbabwe. The top order shockingly showed massive potential. Abhishek Sharma took the charge in the second game, as he blasted an explosive century in just 47 balls. Gill was the turning point through the series as he made two half-centuries. Ruturaj was impressive with his aggressive strokes as well, since he collected 133 runs at a massive strike rate of 158.33. Apart from all that, Sanju Samson and Rinku Singh also made good use of their opportunities, as they made valuable contributions to the success of the team.

After all this, however, the Player of the Series (POTS) award was given to Washington Sundar. As he made a comeback to the national team after missing out on the 2024 T20 World Cup. Sundar showed his all-round capabilities both while batting and bowling.

Even after the limited opportunities to play, Sundar came out as the joint-highest wicket-taker of the series, with a tally of eight scalp. The success for India’s success was all due to his economical bowling, as he had an average of 5.16 run per over.

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Giving India an unbelievable start in the first over, Yashasvi Jaiswal began the Indian innings with a handsome six off Raza. To make matters worse, the spinner had overstepped which meant that India got a free hit on the first ball of the match. Jaiswal made no mistake and smashed another six as India scored 13 runs off just a single legal delivery.

For the record, Jaiswal became the first player ever to score 12 runs off the first legal delivery of a men’s game in the shortest format. Though the opener gave India a fantastic start, Raza took his revenge in the same over by dismissing Jaiswal on the fourth ball as Zimbabwe managed to break the dangerous Jaiswal-Gill partnership in the first over of the match. 

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Gill scored 170 runs in the series at an average of 42.50 and performed well both as an opener and as a captain. The Zimbabwe series was Gill’s first time captaining India at the senior level, and the 24-year-old acknowledged that and said that he enjoyed the experience. As the search for Rohit Sharma’s successor continues, Gill’s leadership will be under consideration ahead of India’s white-ball series against Sri Lanka later this month.

“It is something that I definitely enjoy. I think it brings out the best in me when I am out there because I look to be involved in the game. It is something that really brings out the side of me which I enjoy being on the field,” said Gill on the captaincy role.

“There was pressure, I wouldn’t say extra pressure but obviously, even when you are playing just as a batter when you don’t perform there is a certain kind of pressure that comes along with it. But I think that’s the fun part of it. You kind of feel so many different emotions. Pressure is one of them. And when you get out of that, the satisfaction that you feel is immense,” he added.

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The all-rounder played a quick-fire knock of 26 runs off just 12 balls to take India to a total of 167/6 in 20 overs. Then, he made a good contribution with the ball as well by taking 2 wickets and also manufactured an important direct hit to dismiss Zimbabwe captain, Sikandar Raza.

“It’s always a special thing to contribute in both departments. Took some wickets, very happy. In T20s, you can struggle but one shot and you can get back. The ground is big, we enjoy playing here, the atmosphere and the people are amazing,” said Dube after the match ended.

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“Last few games it was pretty good for bowling and as Riyan said after the 1st game we all woke up. Positive was the next match was next day so we did not have time to think too much. We were talking about this in the IPL, if we get our caps it will be a dream come true. We never thought we will debut together. We spoke about it long back and it happened,” said Abhishek after winning the T20I series 4-1.

“We (him and Abhishek) opened our jerseys together. I went to his room, he opened it first and then I did. We played the 2018 World Cup together and next 6 years we did not play, now we are playing. Doing it with him was pretty special,” Parag said on debuting for India with his friend.

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“I think, the hunger that we showed after losing the first match was fantastic to watch. When we came here, not everyone had a lot of hits in the nets. We weren’t really used to the conditions. The way we adapted (was great),” said Gill after India’s 42-run win in the fifth and final T20I.

Washington Sundar who was awarded with the Player of the Series award, said that the pace and bounce of the pitch at the Harare Sports Club took the Indian batsmen by surprise initially, which cost them the first match. He added that the series win had given the side a lot of confidence going into the upcoming white-ball series against Sri Lanka.

“Good to finish with a win. I felt after the first game that the condition were very similar to South Africa, with extra speed and extra bounce. Lots of takeaways, lots of learnings, a lot of confidence going into the Sri Lanka series,” said Sundar.

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In the previous match, Shubman Gill and Yashasvi Jaiswal had formed an incredible stand of 156 runs to take India home without even losing any wicket, however this time Zimbabwe got the wicket of Jaiswal in the very first over after the left-handed batsman smashed 2 sixes on the first 3 balls of the match.

Gill and Abhishek Sharma also lost their wickets cheaply and it was down to Sanju Samson and Riyan Parag to steady India’s ship. Both the batsmen played a slow but an effective innings with Samson scoring a half-century and Parag playing a cameo of 22. After Parag lost his wicket in the 15th over, it was the T20 World Cup winner, Shivam Dube who walked in to bat. His quick-fire innings of 26 off just 12 balls took India to a good score of 167/6 in 20 overs.

In reply, Zimbabwe also didn’t have a good start as they lost opener, Wessly Madhevere on the third ball of their innings. Next batsman, Brian Bennett also lost his wicket cheaply in the third over before Tadiwanashe Marumani and Dion Myers formed a decent partnership. Both played decent cameos of 27 and 34 respectively, but after the fall of Myers’ wicket in the 13th over, the hosts went on to lose the rest of their 6 wickets in as many overs and were bowled out for 125 in 18.3 overs.

Mukesh Kumar was the star for India in the bowling department, taking 4 wickets and giving away only 22 runs. Dube also made a good contribution with the ball and took 2 wickets. With this 42-run win, the Men in Blue made it 4 wins in a row and won the 5-match series by 4-1. It was a great display by India’s young guns who impressed yet again.

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Here is what the Indian skipper had to say after the crushing victory, “It feels good but the job is not done, we have one more game. This is a great team. I haven’t had the discussion with the coach and if there are any changes then I will let you know at the toss.”

The sides will face each other tomorrow in the final match of the 5-match T20I series at the Harare Sports Club.

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Zimbabwe openers, Wessly Madhevere and Tadiwanashe Marumani gave the hosts a decent start. Both played relatively slow but kept the score board ticking. Their partnership soon reached the 50-run stand, however India finally got the breakthrough in the ninth over through a rather unexpected source, Abhishek Sharma who dismissed Marumani.

Shivam Dube then dismissed Madhevere an over later as the Men in Blue got rid of both the openers. Zimbabwe captain, Sikandar Raza played a good knock of 46 and his decent partnerships with Brian Bennett and Dion Myers carried the hosts to a fighting total of 152/7 in 20 overs. Khaleel Ahmed took 2 scalps in the innings and was the best bowler for India.

Indian openers, Yashasvi Jaiswal and Shubman Gill gave the visitors a fantastic start especially Jaiswal who tore apart the Zimbabwean bowlers. The 50-run partnership came up in no time. Gill was playing the supporting role and was successfully rotating the strike with Jaiswal who looked in a far better touch. However, the Indian skipper soon joined the party and started hitting boundaries in almost every over.

Then, Jaiswal reached his half-century but continued with his attacking approach. The partnership reached the 100-run mark in no time and eventually went on to take India home. The incredible 156-run stand where Jaiswal scored an unbeaten 93 while Gill also remained unbeaten on 58, saw India reach the target in only 15.2 overs and crush Zimbabwe by 10 wickets to seal the T20I series. The series may be settled but both sides will still be playing the last match of the tour tomorrow at the same venue.

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