India eyes unassailable lead as hosts seek to keep series afloat

In less than 24 hours from now, Team India will be taking the yard against Zimbabwe for the second ODI at the same venue as they eye the series with one game to spare. It was an askew contest in the curtain-raiser as the Indian bowlers paved the path for the batters to notch up a comfortable win. The two openers duly obliged, stitching together a century stand to steer India home without breaking a sweat.

Looking forward to the second ODI, a major question will be whether Team India might promote KL Rahul higher up the order to give him ample batting time. Ahead of the Asia Cup, India will need Rahul back at his prime, given the fact that he will play a crucial role alongside Kohli and Rohit to keep the Indian ship afloat in the choppy waters of UAE.

It may not be an easy call, however, given how fluent the Dhawan-Gill opening combo has been. The fact that Dhawan and Gill stitched together their third century partnership in a span of four games speaks volumes about how this duo can be a vital game-changer for India, especially in the upcoming 2023 World Cup. The versatility of Dhawan and Gill allows India to drop Rahul at number four or five, which will do an ocean of good to the Men in Blue.

Zimbabwe have a lot of things to contemplate that start with their top-order. Despite a resilient showdown from the tail-enders, Zimbabwe’s top four had no response to the Indian bowling duo of Mohammed Siraj and Deepak Chahar who raged through the top four in the flash of a heartbeat. Sikandar Raza is one man who has been a reckoning force for the hosts in recent times. Despite a fiasco in the opener, Zimbabwe will be pinning their hopes on the experienced all-rounder to provide a spark for the hosts to get back into the series.

Stats:

India has four 100-plus runs wins against Zimbabwe in ODIs where the highest is by 161 runs that came in 2005 at Harare.

Kapil Dev’s unbeaten 175 in the 1983 World Cup still remains the highest score by an Indian against Zimbabwe in an ODI innings.

The duo of Sachin Tendulkar and Saurav Ganguly were the ultimate elites for Team India as their tally of 287 and 264 runs in 2000/01 remains the highest in a series between India and Zimbabwe by the opening duo.

Zaheer Khan has the most four 4-wicket hauls in the Indo-Zimbabwean ODI rivalry.

Match details:

Zimbabwe vs India (2nd ODI, ODI series)

Harare Sports Club, Harare

20th August 2022

12:45 PM IST

Head-to-head:

Total matches: 64

India: 52

Zimbabwe: 10

Squads:

Zimbabwe:

Regis Chakabva (c), Tanaka Chivanga, Bradley Evans, Luke Jongwe, Ryan Burl, Innocent Kaia, Kaitano Takudzwanashe, Clive Madande, Wesley Madhevere, Tadiwanashe Marumani, John Masara, Tony Munyonga, Richard Ngarava, Victor Nyauchi, Sikandar Raza, Milton Shumba, Donald Tiripano

India:

KL Rahul (c), Shikhar Dhawan, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Shubman Gill, Deepak Hooda, Rahul Tripathi, Ishan Kishan, Sanju Samson (wicket-keeper), Shardul Thakur, Kuldeep Yadav, Axar Patel, Avesh Khan, Prasidh Krishna, Mohd Siraj, Deepak Chahar, Shahbaz Ahmed