Zimbabwe vs India: Indian batters let Men in Blue down as hosts give T20 world champions a rude wake-up call

The celebrations back home went on for days after India’s thrilling victory over South Africa in the final of the T20 World Cup on Saturday, with the Rohit Sharma-led Men in Blue getting the reception of a lifetime in Mumbai on Thursday.

The hangover of the T20 World Cup triumph, which ended Team India’s agonising 11-year wait for an ICC title, would have still been lingering over the team and their billion-plus fans when they were handed a rude shock in the form of a 12-run loss by an unfancied Zimbabwe in Harare on Saturday.

It was by no means the full-strength Indian team led by Rohit that lost to Zimbabwe exactly a week after their six-run victory over South Africa in the final in Barbados. None of the players who were included in the XI during the World Cup, either in the group stage in the US or in the Super 8s and knockouts in the Caribbean, were included in India’s squad for the tour of Zimbabwe.

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Instead, Shubman Gill was put in charge of a team comprising the likes of Yashasvi Jaiswal and Sanju Samson, who were part of the World Cup squad but were benched throughout India’s campaign, along with several uncapped players such as Abhishek Sharma and Riyan Parag and other fringe players.

India’s first assignment after the T20 World Cup was mainly to give opportunities to fresh faces and those lower down the pecking order in order to build a solid player pool and begin their journey towards the 2026 T20 World Cup. The Indian team management would also have been eager to spot a standout individual or two who could possibly plug gaps in the first team and even establish themselves across formats.

As It Happened | India vs Zimbabwe, 1st T20I in Harare

Despite sending a second-string side over to the southern African nation, Gill and company would still have been expected to end up on the winning side if not dominate the Sikandar Raza-led Chevrons. And an easy victory apparently was on the cards after Ravi Bishnoi (4/13) and Washington Sundar (2/11) ran through the Zimbabwean batting lineup and had reduced them to 90/9 in the 16th over after Gill won the toss and opted to field.

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Zimbabwe did manage to go past 100 and eventually post 115/9 on the board thanks to wicketkeeper-batter Clive Madande’s unbeaten 29 off 25 balls. Madande’s cameo, however, hardly appeared to have affected India’s winning probability at the innings break.

Batting department’s inexperience shows in dramatic collapse

The unbeaten 25-run partnership that Zimbabwe’s last-wicket pair managed to stitch together, however, would turn out to be a winning contribution and ultimately the difference between the two sides as the Men in Blue crumbled far more spectacularly than the hosts did.

The wicket at the Harare Sports Club was by no means the batting paradise that Rohit and Co had been served in venues such as Barbados and St Lucia in the Caribbean leg of the T20 World Cup campaign, and Zimbabwe’s total of 115 turned out be to be far more competitive a score once it was India’s turn to bat.

Read | 'Job not done' says Raza after Zimbabwe stun India; Gill admits visitors were a 'bit rusty'

Abhishek Sharma had been obliterating opposition attacks for fun in the IPL earlier this year but got his international career off to a forgettable start by getting dismissed for a four-ball duck. The Sunrisers Hyderabad batter was caught in the deep while attempting to get off the mark in style against spin-bowling all-rounder Brian Bennett.

It was a similar case for fellow debutant Riyan Parag, who holed out to mid off while attempting to launch the ball down the ground after getting foxed by a slower delivery from Tendai Chatara. Rinku Singh, who had to deal with the disappointment of being left out of the World Cup squad in favour of Shivam Dube, was bounced out in the same Chatara over just two balls later, getting a thick top-edge off a short delivery.

Wicketkeeper-batter Dhruv Jurel had gained some confidence after hitting Luke Jongwe for a boundary with a lovely drive through extra cover in the 10th over, only to perish next ball while attempting to play a similar shot.

The Indian team’s collapse in Harare on Saturday suddenly makes Virat Kohli’s knock of 76 off 59 deliveries in the final all the more special even if the batting icon has been inundated with praises from across the cricketing world.

On a wicket that behaved in a manner similar to the Nassau County Stadium in New York where low-scoring thrillers were the norm, the Indian batters should have shown a lot more application instead of backing their instincts and playing their natural game, even if that approach paid off more often than not on the batting-friendly wickets back home.

And even if the fresh faces perished early, captain Gill and Ruturaj Gaikwad were expected to do better given they’re the relatively experienced members of the squad as far as international cricket is concerned. While Gaikwad perished for 7 after nicking a short-of-length ball from Blessing Muzarabani, Gill had held the innings together for a fair bit and became the first batter to breach the 30-run mark on Saturday, only to get dismissed by his Zimbabwean counterpart shortly after the halfway mark.

Fortunately for the Men in Blue, they’ll have the opportunity to go level with their opponents in less than 24 hours with the second T20I taking place in less than 24 hours’ time. And this time, Gill will be hoping his teammates are able to get their act with the bat right and ensure they don’t put the Chevrons on the brink of a historic series win.