The Indian national cricket team led by Shubman Gill took on the Zimbabwe national cricket team led by Sikandar Raza in the first T20I of the five-match series on Saturday, July 6 at the Harare Sports Club.

Team India came into the series after a sensational campaign at the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2024, where they remained unbeaten throughout the competition and managed to cross the final hurdle to lift the championship.

The T20 World Cup triumph ended India’s 11-year drought without ICC trophies and marked the end of an era for three of the team’s superstars. After India won the championship, captain Rohit Sharma, batting stalwart Virat Kohli and all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja bid adieu to the format, making way for youngsters to seal their place in the line-up.

Most of the players who participated in the 2024 ICC T20 World Cup have been given rest, with only a few members named in the squad for the Zimbabwe T20I. Shubman Gill, who is leading Gujarat Titans in the IPL, has been given the responsibility of leading the team as the team’s original vice-captain Hardik Pandya has also been given rest from the series.

We played pretty well, but we fell behind on the field – Shubman Gill

India bowled first in the match and managed to restrict Zimbabwe to a below-par total of 115/9, thanks to Ravi Bishnoi’s 4 wickets and good contributions from Washington Sundar (2), Avesh Khan (1) and Mukesh Kumar (1).

In terms of run-chasing, the Indian batsmen struggled and were reduced to 43/5. Shubman Gill (31) and Washington Sundar (27) tried to put up a fight but it was not enough and they were bowled out for 102, losing the match by 13 runs.

After the match, Indian captain Shubman Gill said that they played perfectly with the ball but were very rusty on the field. Shubman Gill said:

“We played pretty well, but we fell short on the field. We weren’t up to par and everyone looked a little rusty.”

Speaking about the batting failure, Shubman Gill said that they talked about enjoying themselves in the middle of the field but it didn’t turn out the way they would have wanted. He also took the blame for India’s defeat and named himself the villain for not staying at the crease till the end.

The Indian captain admitted that the late partnership gave them hope but said that depending on the latter is not the right thing to do and something is wrong. Shubman Gill said:

“We talked about taking our time and enjoying our batting but it didn’t turn out that way. By the halfway point we had lost 5 wickets, it would have been better for us if I stayed there till the end, I’m very disappointed with the way I got out and the rest of the match turned out. There was a bit of hope for us but when you’re chasing 115 and your number 10 batsman is there, you know something is wrong.”

The second T20I between the Indian National Cricket Team and the Zimbabwe National Cricket Team will be played tomorrow, Sunday, July 7, at the Harare Sports Club.