India vs Zimbabwe 2nd T20 India tour of Zimbabwe, 2024 - Page 22

Originally posted by: Aurora_77

Congrats to Abhishek. He was on a roll today

Lucky escape on 28.i can even hold that catch, i took many at Gujarat college ground, in my Era.

Congratulations team India

The young Indian team has stamped their authority and has showed their class today! Riding on the back of a blistering century from Abhishek Sharma, a blazing fifty from Ruturaj Gaikwad and a power-packed cameo from Rinku SIngh, India posted a mammoth 234 on the board. Zimbabwe dropped a number of catches and that certainly came back to haunt them. At the halfway stage, Zimbabwe were already staring down the barrel. Brian Bennett promised with some powerful strikes at the start but fell against the run of play. The hosts lost 4 wickets inside the powerplay and the writing was on the wall for them. The Indian spinners took control in the middle overs and choked the hosts' batters. They were never really in the reckoning as the required run-rate crept up and they crumbled under pressure. Madhevere was sluggish and played a laboured knock. Mukesh Kumar and Avesh Khan picked up 3-fers while Bishnoi also took a couple of wickets.

Sikandar Raza | Zimbabwe Captain: The world champions will eventually play like world champions. Dropping catches today certainly hurt us today. I expected 200 on this wicket today but they got 30 runs more. Coming into the chase, I thought it would be a close game but it wasn't to be, the top-order didn't fire. Blessing has grown by leaps and bounds, he is very hungry and his graph will keep going up as long as he stays fit. It's a task we have been talking about since a long time, today we came out positive and played our shots, lot of the issues occurred due to inexperience.

Abhishek Sharma | Player of the Match: I think it was a pretty good performance by me, the defeat we had yesterday, it wasn't easy for us. I felt today it was my day and I made it count. I feel T20 is about momentum and I took it to the end. Special mention to the coaches, captains and the team management to keep confidence. I always feel that as a youngster if it's your day, you have to express yourself. We were talking after every over and he (Ruturaj) said to me that you should take it on. I always believe in my ability, if it's in my arc and even if it's the first ball, I will go after it.

Shubman Gill | India Captain: Very happy, great to be back on the winning note back again. With the way Abhishek and Rutu batted, it was not easy especially in the powerplay, with the ball moving around but Abhi and Rutu built the innings brilliantly. Yesterday, it was more about not being able to handle the pressure, it's a young side and many of them are new to international exposure. It was actually good to have pressure in the first game and we knew what to expect coming into this game. We have got three matches to go and we are looking forward to them. It's always good to have more options rather than not having options.

The young Indian side showcased what they are capable of today. They weren't able to handle the pressure in the last game but they came out firing on all cylinders today. A memorable day especially for Abhishek Sharma as he was at his destructive best. The T20 World Champions certainly have a strong bench strength and it augurs well for them that more of their players are being exposed to international cricket. It was a bad day at the office for Zimbabwe. The series is level at 1-1 and there's a lot to play for. We can expect a tough fight from the hosts as they are a resilient side. Join us for the third T20I from the same venue on Wednesday.

Word Count: 1

Thanks for the tag Soni.

Congratulations to India for winning the match.

Cheers..