Back
PremiumIndia vs Zimbabwe Highlights: Chasing 116 runs at Harare against Zimbabwe, India lost all its wickets at 102 and lost by 13 runs in the first T20I of the 5-match series on 6 July. 102 is India's lowest all out total in T20Is in the last eight years.
For India, Shubman Gill scored 31 runs and Washington Sundar scored 27 runs. Apart from this, no other batter could score more.
While for Zimbabwe, Sikandar Raza and Tendai Chatara took three wickets. Also, Brian Bennett, Wellington Masakadza, Blessing Muzarabani and Luke Jongwe picked one wicket each.
Earlier, Zimbabwe had scored 115 runs after losing 9 wickets. Brian Bennett (22), Dion Myers (23), Clive Madande (29) and Madhevere (21) scored some good runs for the team.
For India, Ravi Bishnoi took 4 wickets, Washington Sundar picked 2 wickets, while Mukesh Kumar and Avesh Khan took one wicket each.
A young side, India, will take on Zimbabwe in the first match of the Sports 5 T20I series at the Harare Sports Club on Saturday. Notably, this will be the first time the Men in Blue have played in Zimbabwe since 2016.
The Zimbabwe series has taken on new significance following the T20 World Cup victory and the subsequent retirements of Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma and Ravindra Jadeja from T20 cricket. With fresh blood in the side, the Men in Blue will be looking to continue their winning ways.
Zimbabwe, on the other hand, come into this series after losing their last series against Bangladesh 4-1 in May. Meanwhile, Sikandar Raza's side failed to qualify for the T20 World Cup.
India vs Zimbabwe Squads:
India (Playing XI) - Shubman Gill (C), Abhishek Sharma, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Riyan Parag, Rinku Singh, Dhruv Jurel (WK), Washington Sundar, Ravi Bishnoi, Avesh Khan, Mukesh Kumar, Khaleel Ahmed.
Zimbabwe (Playing XI) - Tadiwanashe Marumani, Innocent Kaia, Brian Bennett, Sikandar Raza (C), Dion Myers, Johnathan Campbell, Clive Madande (WK), Wessly Madhevere, Luke Jongwe, Blessing Muzarabani, Tendai Chatara.
India vs Zimbabwe Live Score: For India, Gill has played 14 matches so far and scored 335 runs. His highest is 126* against New Zealand in Ahmedabad. It is India's highest individual score in T20I cricket.
Gill's strike rate in T20I cricket is 147.57 while his average is 25.76. The batter has hit 31 fours and 16 sixes.
India vs Zimbabwe Live Score: Today will mark Shubman Gill's ‘debut’ for India, not as a player, but as a captain. In IPL 2024, he led the Gujarat Titans (GT) but did not have much success. GT finished 8th on the points table.
India vs Zimbabwe Live Score:“There are a lot of young players in the team, including myself. So I think in terms of that, we just want to give the players experience and how the international, what it is like to play at the international level because a lot of the players haven't played that many matches and some of the players haven't even made their debut," captain Shubman Gill said.
“So I think that is our aim for the series, to give them more international exposure and experience," he added.
India vs Zimbabwe Live Score: In a press conference for Sony Sports, Karim said, “I think he's not only so prolific with the bat, but I think he's a handy left arm spin bowler. So he brings to the table that all-rounder the slot also, which is so good for him. And if he has to get an opportunity, then I think his ideal is suited to open the innings and then roll his arm over for maybe one or two overs, which will be so crucial for India," said Karim during a press interaction for Sony Sports.
India vs Zimbabwe Live Score: In a video posted by BCCI on X (formerly Twitter), Dhruv Jurel revealed that he was so scared about India losing the T20 World Cup that he started cheering for South Africa. He said, "When I was watching the final and cheering for India, South Africa got into a winning position, so I started cheering for South Africa, and India made a comeback. I kept cheering for South Africa, and India won the World Cup. I was celebrating like a kid,"
India vs Zimbabwe Live Score: India and Zimbabwe have played 8 T20I matches against each other. India have won 6 of those while Zimbabwe have won twice. In the last 5 matches played between the two, India have won thrice and Zimbabwe twice.
India played 2 T20 matches with Zimbabwe in 2010 and won both, by 6 wickets and by 7 wickets, respectively. India’s third win came in 2015 when the Men in Blue won by 54 runs. India, however, lost the next 2 matches, by 10 runs and by 2 runs, respectively.
India won by 3 runs in 2016. Then, in 2022, India defeated the southern African team by 71 runs. Rohit Sharma was the captain while Suryakumar Yadav (61 off 25 balls) was awarded the Player of the Match.
India vs Zimbabwe Live Score: The temperature in Harare on July 6 evening will be around 11 degrees, as per AccuWeather. Since Zimbabwe is situated in the southern hemisphere, it is winter in June, July and August. There’s no chance of rain.
India vs Zimbabwe Live Score Updates: India have played 7 out of 8 T20I matches against Zimbabwe in Harare. It is the same venue where India will play the 1st T20I match as defending world champions. The Harare Sports Club, also known as Salisbury Sports Club, has hosted 41 T20I matches so far.
At this venue, teams batting first won 23 times. The average first innings score is 156/7 while the average score for the second innings is 139/6. The highest team score is Australia's 229/2 against Zimbabwe in 2018. The lowest is Zimbabwe's 90 against Afghanistan in 2022.
India vs Zimbabwe Live Score: Ruturaj Gaikwad, the Chennai Super Kings (CSK) captain, opens for his team in the Indian Premier League (IPL). In IPL 2024, he scored 583 runs in 14 matches, finishing second only to Virat Kohli for the Orange Cap. However, India captain Shubman Gill has not chosen the second-highest run-scorer in the IPL 2024 for the opening slot.
Shubman Gill has confirmed that he will open for India in the Zimbabwe T20I series. He has chosen a new opening partner: Abhishek Sharma. While Gaikwad not opening for India may disappoint his fans, Sharma has also proved himself a strong candidate for the opening slot.
India vs Zimbabwe Live Score: Speaking to Sports Now, former BCCI selector Saba Karim said, "Potential yes but at this stage I think it's very early for the selectors to actually decide who can be the captain in the years to come. There are a number of aspirants, Hardik Pandya right now is the vice-captain and I think with Rohit's departure, it is more obvious that Pandya will take up the reins."
"But yes, I think the Indian selectors have always looked at Shubman Gill as an all-format player and they feel he does have the required leadership skills to take the team forward, that is why this Zimbabwe series will be quite exciting for Gill not as a batter but also as a captain," Karim added
India vs Zimbabwe Live Score: Speaking at the pre-match press conferenece, Gill said, "Obviously there is pressure. But what they've achieved or what they did for India...they are both idols and legends of Indian cricket. But as players and the team the things we want to achieve, there is definitely pressure about that."
"I've learnt a lot of lessons when I captained my IPL team for the first time. I got to know a lot more things about myself and a lot more things about the leadership perspective," the Indian captain added.
India vs Zimbabwe Live Score: All-rounder Nitish Reddy was ruled out of the 5 match T20 series against Zimbabwe owing to injury. However, the SRH player is in no mood to rue ove the past and is instead looking to focus on opportunities in the future.
He told ANI, "It is a part of the game, so I don't take this injury that much into my head. I am trying to focus on the future as well. There are opportunities everywhere. You are going to get the opportunity, and you have to be prepared when it comes to you. This is the maiden call for me, and I am so happy about that. This injury part will be a big trouble for any athlete across the world, so as soon as I can recover from this injury, I will be back on the field, and that makes me happy more than anything else,"
"I have to think it in that way if I want to play for India. I have to be strong. I have to think I have to be the best all-rounder. You have to think about it in your mind first, and then only I can achieve it. I have to work on my bowling to become a good all-rounder," Reddy added
India vs Zimbabwe Live Score: In a video posted by BCCI, Abhishek Sharma said, "I was watching the match with one and only Yuvi Paji. Because when India won in front of him, he got really very emotional. I got a lot of inspiration from that and I also liked it a lot. Because it's our dream to win the ICC trophy and they have won a lot for India. And seeing them emotional, it was like a moment that I will never forget. Then we went out and celebrated as well. So I think this World Cup was very special. And I got so much motivation to win the World Cup for India,"
India vs Zimbabwe Live Score: Speaking to PTI vidos, Zimbabwe coach Justin Sammons said, "I think we're very fortunate to have a player like Sikandar Raza leading the side. He brings great experience, We want him to lead from the front. He's been superb in the changing room and taking the players under his wing. We want his bat to do the talking. as well as his bowling,"
“This is an opportunity for this team to do that and to showcase their skills against the best and obviously to get an understanding of where they're at…I don't want to dwell on what's happened in the past, but what I want to do is obviously focus on the future. We've created a clear vision in terms of where this team wants to go within the next two or three years… "We're encouraging players to continually want to up-skill and improve. And they know they're going to be taken out of their comfort zone in doing that," Sammons added
India vs Zimbabwe Live Score: Speaking at the pre-match presser, Gill said, "A lot of lessons. When I captain for the first time for my IPL team, I got to know a lot more things about myself and a lot more things about the leadership perspective. And I felt most of the challenges that you face as a captain are more mental," he said.
"It's quite a different team from the one that played in the World Cup. There are a lot of young players in the team, including myself. So I think in terms of that, we just want to give the players experience and how the international, what it is like to play at the international level because a lot of the players haven't played that many matches and some of the players haven't even made their debut. So I think that is our aim for the series, to give them more international exposure and experience," Gill added
India vs Zimbabwe Live Score: Speaking to ANI, Jongwe said, "They are probably two of the best batters to have played the sport. Not getting to play against them is sad. I got to play against them in Australia during the T20 World Cup 2022. I think they have done so much for Indian cricket and for me too, watching them play is amazing,"
While talking about his team's prospect against the World Champions, Jongwe added, "The future of Zimbabwe is actually starting from tomorrow. There is a newish team against India that we are playing. It will take us to the 2026 T20 WC and 2027 ODI World Cup. We cannot wait to play tomorrow. There will be people filling up the ground and some awesome cricketers will emerge during these five games,"
India vs Zimbabwe Live Score: All five matches of the India vs Zimbabwe T20I series will be played at the Harare Sports Club in Harare. Meanwhile, the first match will be played on July 6 from 4:30 PM onwards(India time).
All matches will be broadcast live via the Sony Sports Network. Meanwhile, the live stream of the India vs Zimbabwe T20 series can be watched via the SonyLiv app and website.
