Zimbabwe opt to bowl vs India
Zimbabwe won the toss and asked
India to bat first in what was practically a must-win match for both sides. Thanks to
South Africa’s win over West Indies Minutes before the toss, India now need to just win. Zimbabwe, though, needs to win big.
Sikandar Razathe Zimbabwe captain, said there was grass and moisture on the surface, and that he wanted his seamers to use it early. Raza didn’t even go for an X-ray on his injured hand lest it show a fracture and force him out of the big match.
Thanks to Raza’s call to field, we were to soon find out the batting position of
Sanju Samsonwhose inclusion brought about a huge cheer from the stands in Chennai, which will now be his home during the IPL. A Chennai boy, though, went out. Washington Sundar made way for the vice-captain
Axar Patelwho had been left out for tactical reasons against South Africa.
Samson replaced a lower middle-order hitter Rinku Singh, who might or might not have his mind on other things. He made a quick visit to Delhi with his ailing father before rejoining the squad on the eve of this match. How Samson would fit in the batting was intriguing, but one thing was made clear: he was going to take the big gloves behind the wicket later in the night.
Zimbabwe made one change to go with their reading of the conditions. Legspinner Graeme Cremer went out for fast bowler
Tinotenda Maposa.
India: 1 Abhishek Sharma, 2 Sanju Samson (wk), 3 Ishan Kishan, 4 Suryakumar Yadav (capt.), 5 Tilak Varma, 6 Hardik Pandya, 7 Shivam Dube, 8 Axar Patel, 9 Arshdeep Singh, 10 Varun Chakravarthy, 11 Jasprit Bumrah
Zimbabwe: 1 Tadiwanashe Marumani (wk), 2 Brian Bennett, 3 Dion Myers, 4 Ryan Burl, 5 Sikandar Raza (capt.), 6 Tony Munyonga, 7 Tashinga Musekiwa, 8 Brad Evans, 9 Tinotenda Maposa, 10 Blessing Muzarabani, 11 Richard Ngarava
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