Zimbabwe, who failed to qualify for the ICC Men's T20 World Cup 2024, made a statement as they beat the recently-crowned world champions India, albeit a completely different team in the series opener on Saturday, July 6. Despite being inexperienced, the young new blue brigade has a lot of T20 experience and all of them had great seasons in the 2024 edition of the IPL but as skipper Shubman Gill admitted, the team looked a bit rusty and weren't up to the mark.
The bowlers did well, to restrict Zimbabwe to 115, however, on a slightly tricky surface with the bowling attack the home side has, the batters will have to be at the top of their game. It was only Gill, who kept some sort of hope alive even when India were half their side for not many. The likes of Abhishek Sharma, Riyan Parag and Dhruv Jurel who made their debut on Saturday, will hopefully learn from that experience as India look to level the series.
When and where to watch ZIM vs IND T20 series on TV and OTT in India?
The second of the five-match T20I series between India and Zimbabwe at the Harare Sports Club in Harare will kick off on Sunday, July 7 at 4:30 PM IST. The match will be live broadcast on Sony Sports 3, Sony Sports 4, Sony Sports 5, Sony Sports 3 HD, Sony Sports 4 HD and Sony Sports 5 HD channels while the live streaming of the same will be available on the SonyLiv app and website.
Probable playing XIs
India: Shubman Gill(c), Abhishek Sharma, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Riyan Parag, Dhruv Jurel(w), Rinku Singh, Washington Sundar, Avesh Khan, Mukesh Kumar, Khaleel Ahmed, Ravi Bishnoi
Zimbabwe: Wessly Madhevere, Innocent Kaia, Brian Bennett, Sikandar Raza(c), Dion Myers, Johnathan Campbell, Clive Madande(w), Wellington Masakadza, Luke Jongwe, Blessing Muzarabani, Tendai Chatara
