Visakhapatnam
Many players on this tour lacked recent match practice, which Gill highlighted as a contributing factor to their performance. He noted at the post-match presentation, “I think we bowled well but our fielding let us down. We looked rusty and didn’t meet our standards.”
The challenging conditions in Harare, with early movement for the bowlers and a slow pitch, hindered the batters’ ability to play their typical IPL shots. This led to five of India’s top six batsmen falling cheaply as they tried to accelerate the scoring.
Gill, who top-scored with 31 runs, had instructed the team to bat sensibly during their innings. Despite the low target set by Zimbabwe, India struggled to build partnerships and lost wickets regularly.
A late surge from Avesh Khan kept India in contention, but the target proved too much to chase with limited wickets in hand. Gill acknowledged the slim chances of victory in the final overs.
Looking ahead, India aims to bounce back in the second match of the series on Sunday to recover lost ground from their disappointing start.
