Reigning World Champion, India’s life without Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, and Ravindra Jadeja in T20Is began in a turbulent manner as Zimbabwe stunned them in the series opener Harare by 13 runs. The young Indian side minus any member of the World Cup-winning team, failed to chase down the 116-run target. The Shubman Gill-led team was bowled out for 102 in 19.5 overs.
With stalwarts Rohit, Kohli, and Jadeja now retired from T20Is, all eyes were on India’s young brigade to take the mantle forward, but they fell flat on the first attempt. None of India’s top six batters, barring Shubman Gill, managed to cross double figures.
Ravi Bishnoi, who delivered a career-best 4/13 to restrict Zimbabwe to 115/9, said it’s time for young players to take Team India forward after the retirement of senior pros such as Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma and Ravindra Jadeja.
“It’s time for new players. The senior players are retired and handed over the mantle to us. It’s our responsibility to take the flight ahead.”
Despite the setback, Bishnoi said Shubman Gill led the side well.
“Shubman’s captaincy is very good. His bowling changes were spot on, it’s a sign of good captaincy,” he added.
“We are trying our best and we need to bounce back stronger. We just need to come back tomorrow (Sunday) with a fresh mind for the second match,” said Bishnoi in the post-match press meet.
Bishnoi said India failed to stitch together good partnership and that led to their downfall.
“It was a good game of cricket, but we collapsed, lost continuous wickets. A partnership would have made the game better for us. We could not do that. I think that made the difference,” he said.
“Zimbabwe’s bowling and fielding were really good. They did not allow us to build partnerships,” he added.
The 23-year-old took a career-best 4/13 against the Africans here, and the leg-spinner said he is constantly trying to improve his craft.
“We can learn something from every match. I am trying to learn from every match and get better at what I am doing,” he said.
India will have a chance to bounce back very quickly in the second T20I on Sunday.
Hasibur Rahaman is a passionate sports journalist. He covers everything from cricket to field hockey, delivering up-to-the-minute updates and in-depth analysis of sporting events, both within India and on the international stage.
