Anubhav Katheria
In the ongoing 5 match T20 series between India and Zimbabwe, three matches have been played where the Indian team is currently leading with 2-1. India will now face Zimbabwe on 13th July at the Harare sports club stadium for the fourth match.
Despite a great performance from this young Indian team, some problems were seen in the 3rd T20 when the World Cup winning squad players Yashasvi Jaiswal, Shivam Dube and Sanju Samson return. Abhishek Sharma and Ruturaj Gaikwad who dominated the match were seen batting down in the order because of the addition of these players.
Indian top order includes 4 openers which was questioned by many senior cricketers. Ruturaj Gaikwad who is an opener for Indian Premier League team Chennai Super Kings was seen comfortable playing at No.4 and Abhishek Sharma struggled at No.3.
According to sources the interim coach VVS Laxman want to bring balance in the squad which can bring Riyan Parag back in the playing 11, this can lead to Riyan replacing Abhishek Sharma who scored a century for Indian in this series. India used Abhishek as 5th bowler which is a role that Riyan Parag can also play.
India’s Probable 11 in the 4th T20 vs Zimbabwe:
Yashasvi Jaiswal, Shubman Gill (C), Ruturaj Gaikwad, Abhishek Sharma/Riyan Parag, Sanju Samson(WK), Rinku Singh, Shivam Dube, Washington Sundar, Ravi Bishnoi, Avesh Khan, Khaleel Ahmed
What happened in 2nd and 3rd T20 match(IND VS ZIM):
India who lost the first match and after that they went on to win the 2nd and the 3rd match with an impressive performance from the young team, where they score a total of 234 runs (which is the highest ever total in the Harare stadium.) with 2 wicket loss and took all 10 wickets of Zimbabwe and won the match by 100 runs in the 18.3 overs in
the 2nd T20.
In the 3rd T20 some changes were made in the Indian squad, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Shivam Dube, Sanju Samson and Khaleel Ahmed were included in the playing 11. Abhishek Sharma who was opening the inning for India and scored century in the previous match(2nd T20) was seen batting at No.3 and Ruturaj Gaikwad who scored 77* runs in 47 balls was down to No.4. India only managed to score 182 runs with loss of 4 wickets in that match and won the match with 23 runs.
How much can India score while batting first:
As seen in the last match the pitch of Harare Sports Club has variable bounce and a double paced movement in which it can be difficult to score in early overs but after the ball gets old India can score a good toatal of 170-185 runs.
