After an emphatic ODI clean-sweep, India would be looking to continue their dominance when they square off against Zimbabwe in a couple of Twenty20 cricket Internationals starting here on Friday.
After a scratchy win in the opening ODI, India got their act together quite quickly to outplay the hosts, who fizzled out after showing some intensity to start with. It would be some task for the home side to stay positive and not get bogged down by the ODI debacle given that they had their chances but failed to latch on to them. The Indians, on the other hand, would be eyeing a clean sweep of the tour. The visitors do not have too many concerns to ponder over as they have delivered on all fronts.
Even the injury to in-form batsman Ambati Rayudu, who was named Man of the Series, has hardly been a blow given that his replacement Manish Pandey came good on debut itself with a 71-run knock.
“We never felt that it will be a 3-0 score line. We always knew that they would be tough to beat on their home soil. It was challenging, especially batting first in all three games, but our batters did an excellent job to put up a 250-plus score in every game. That’s where I feel we won the games,” said the third ODI’s Man of the Match Kedar Jadhav, who struck a maiden unbeaten century.
The Indians would be aiming to extend this ODI domination to T20s as well but they will have to be a lot more aggressive in their approach as far as batting is concerned.
Given the fickle nature of the format where a game can change in just one delivery, the Indians cannot afford to be slow off the blocks against the home bowlers, who did a decent job even in the ODIs. It would be a test for the opening duo of skipper Ajinkya Rahane and Murali Vijay to give the side a flying start, which is an absolute must in the T20 format.
Senior batsman Robin Uthappa, who did not have a great run in the ODIs, will also be looking to create an impact in the T20s. Sanju Samson, who has flown is as a replacement for Rayudu, could make his debut on Friday.
The Zimbabweans, on the other hand, remain heavily reliant on Chamu Chibhabha in the batting department. He did well in the ODIs but more would be expected of Hamilton Masakadza and Elton Chigumbura, both of whom did not have much to show for in the ODIs.
“We’ve got the potential, as you can see, we just need to transform our ability into performance, and that comes from here,” Zimbabwe coach Dav Whatmore has said.
India remain no.2 in odis
Dubai: India have retained their second position in the ICC ODI team rankings following their 3-0 series sweep over Zimbabwe. With 115 points to their credit, India still remain 14 points behind Australia, who lead the table on 129 points. Meanwhile, Bangladesh’s four successive ODI home series victories, including a 2-1 triumph over SA, helped cement their ICC Champions Trophy 2017 qualification, as well as seventh place in the table. In the ODI batting chart, Virat Kohli (4th), Shikhar Dhawan (7th) and Mahendra Singh Dhoni (9th) have also maintained their respective positions. Although no Indian bowler figures in the top-10 of the ODI bowling chart.