India’s three debutants failed to make it in the first T20I against Zimbabwe at the Harare Sports Club on Saturday, July 6. The Men in Blue suffered a shock 13-run defeat in their first match since being crowned World T20 champions last week.
Abhishek Sharma, Riyan Parag and Dhruv Jurel made their T20I debut for Team India in the game and the trio could score a total of just 9 runs. Sharma was the first to come out to bat as he opened the innings with captain Shubman Gill. The left-handed batsman was out for a 4-ball duck in the first over of the game.
Riyan Parag also did not last long and departed in the fifth over after scoring 2 runs off 3 balls. Dhruv Jurel, who had impressed in his debut Test series earlier this year, was also not up to par with the bat. The wicket-keeper batsman was dismissed for 6 runs by Luke Jongwe in the 10th over.
And as if dismissing Jurel wasn’t enough, Jongwe also came up with a celebration that wouldn’t go down too well with the Indian wicketkeeper. The Zimbabwean bowler brought out the famous ‘shoe call’ celebration as he took off his shoe and held it near his ear, pretending to call someone. The celebration was made famous in cricket by South African star Tabraiz Shamsi.
Watch Luke Jongwe celebrate after seeing off Dhruv Jurel:
image.twitter.com/oFI9h15QQt
— Bangladesh vs Sri Lanka (@Hanji_CricDekho) July 6, 2024
As for the match, Zimbabwe beat India by 13 runs and took the lead in the five-match series. Asked to bat first, Zimbabwe finished their innings at a modest 115/9. At one stage, they were trailing 90 for 9 before an unbeaten 29-run knock from wicketkeeper Clive Madande helped them post a respectable total. For India, Ravi Bishnoi shined with the ball, taking 4 for 13.
In reply, India were bowled out for 102 runs. India lost the wicket of Abhishek Sharma in the first over and kept losing wickets at regular intervals since then. Captain Shubman Gill was the team’s top scorer, with 31 runs. India will look to level the series by winning the second game, scheduled for Sunday (July 7).
