India spinner Ravi Bishnoi has said that the young team is trying their best to take forward the legacy of Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma and Ravindra Jadeja, three modern-day greats who retired from the T20I format after India’s triumphant T20 World Cup run in the USA and Caribbean islands. Speaking in Harare after India’s loss in the first T20I against Zimbabwe, Bishnoi said that the Indian players were given their best. World Champions India were shocked by minnows Zimbabwe in the first T20I match of the series on Saturday, 7 July. The Indian team failed to chase down 116 runs in Harare, and lost their first T20I match in 2024. The entire Indian batting unit, which included the likes of Shubman Gill, Abhishek Sharma, Riyan Parag and Ruturaj Gaikwad failed, as Zimbabwe scripted a memorable victory.
Indian Premier League stars Riyan Parag and Rinku Singh were heavily trolled by fans on social media after their loss. Both Riyan and Rinku got out to fast bowler Tendai Chatara. While Riyan scored 2 off 3 balls, Rinku got out trying to pull the fast bowler in the second ball of his innings, when he had not scored a single run. Speaking to the media after the game Bishnoi blamed the loss on the batting order collapse. At one point in time, India had lost 6 wickets inside the first 50 runs, while chasing only 116. Bishnoi felt that if India could have gotten a 20-30-run partnership in the middle overs, things might have looked different. We collapsed. The lack of partnerships, that made a difference. If we could have had 20-30 runs partnerships, the story could be different,” Bishnoi said in Saturday after the match. “The seniors handed the responsibility to us and it is our responsibility to take the flag ahead, we are trying our best,” Bishnoi further said. We let ourselves down in the field: Bishnoi. It will be a quick turnaround for India, who play their second T20I inside 24 hours. India are expected to remain unchanged for the second game in Harare.
India captain Shubman Gill felt that his team was rusty but hoped to be back at their best in the next match. “We bowled pretty well, we let ourselves down in the field. We were not up to standard and everyone looked a bit rusty. We spoke about taking time and enjoying our batting but it didn’t pan out that way. Halfway through we had lost 5 wickets, would’ve been best for us if I stayed there till the end, very disappointed with the way I got out and the rest of the match panned out. There was a bit of hope for us but when you’re chasing 115 and your no.10 batter is out there, you know something is wrong,” Gill said in the post-match presentation ceremony. Zimbabwe vs India 2nd T20I match starts at 4:30 PM IST on Sunday
