The Indian national cricket team took on Zimbabwe in the first match of the five-match series. The match between the two teams was held at the Harare Sports Club in Harare on Saturday (June 6).
Team India was led by young Shubman Gill and the team featured a lot of youngsters. Players who participated in the Indian Premier League (IPL) have been given opportunities and it will be a great platform for them to take over from the senior players.
With the veteran players being a part of the 2024 T20 World Cup, some new faces were included in the squad. The Indian team led by Shubman Gill wore a jersey similar to the one the Indian team sported in the tournament, but there was one thing that caught the attention of many.
The jersey worn by the Shubman Gill-led team in the first T20I match against Zimbabwe had only one star. The stars on a team’s jersey represent the number of times it has won the T20 World Cup. India achieved the feat twice in 2007 and 2024.
The reason why the Indian jersey has only one star has now been revealed. It is because the Shubman Gill-led team left for Zimbabwe before the final of the tournament and hence the jersey with two starters was not designed until then.
The two-starred jersey was later unveiled by Sanju Samson after the Indian team returned from the Caribbean. The Rohit Sharma-led team won the final by 7 runs against South Africa and ended the 11-year drought without the ICC title.
India were magnificent throughout the tournament with bat and ball. They remained unbeaten in the tournament and became the first team to win the T20 World Cup without losing a single match.
Zimbabwe wins first T20I against India by 13 runs
In the match between India and Zimbabwe, the hosts won the first match by a margin of 13 runs. Shubman Gill performed poorly on his debut as captain as the team had a terrible showing with the bat.
India performed well with the ball as they restricted Zimbabwe to a total of 115 runs. It was expected to be an easy chase for the visitors but it was not to be as the host bowlers bowled their hearts out and put the Indian batsmen in trouble.
Shubman Gill was the only batsman who looked well placed at the crease as he chased. The opening batsman scored 31 runs while the rest of the batsmen struggled to get going. They lost 9 wickets quickly and the Indians’ hopes depended on all-rounder Washington Sundar.
Sundar (27) did his best for the team and kept possession of the ball but did not get any support from anyone. The all-rounder took the game to the last over but could not take the team home as Zimbabwe bowled out India by 102 runs and won the game by 13 runs.
