Shubman Gill took full responsibility for India’s shocking loss to Zimbabwe in the first T20I at the Harare Sports Club on Saturday. Chasing 116 for victory, a young Indian side was bowled out for 102 in 19.5 overs, losing the match by 13 runs. This was India’s first defeat in T20Is this year after going unbeaten for 12 straight games.
Captaining India for the first time, Gill said it was his responsibility to stay there till the end and finish the match, especially after he got his eyes in. “Halfway through (the match) we had lost five wickets, and it would’ve been best for us if I stayed there till the end. I am very disappointed with the way I got out and the rest of the match panned out,” said Gill in the post-match presentation ceremony.
India lost half their side for only 43 runs on the board. Gill was the only batter who looked comfortable in the middle. The spongy bounce on the Harare pitch troubled most of the Indian batters, barring Gill. He looked in control for the better part of his innings and even played some delightful strokes to the boundary.
But he was disappointed for playing a poor shot in the 11th over of the match. After hitting a boundary off Zimbabwe captain Sikandar Raza, Gill played all around a straighter delivery from Raza and lost his off stump.
Washington Sundar played a decent hand of 29 off 34 balls but he did not get much support from the lower order.
“There was a bit of hope for us. But while chasing 115 and your No.10 batter is out there, you know something is wrong,” Gill added.
India were recently crowned champions in the T20 World Cup albeit with a different set of players.
Gill said the team could not execute its plans.
“We spoke about taking time and enjoying our batting but it didn’t pan out that way,” he added.
He also said India were a bit under-par on the field, despite bowling well to restrict the hosts to 115 for nine.
“We bowled pretty well. We let ourselves down in the field. We were not up to standard and everyone looked a bit rusty,” he noted.
Zimbabwe skipper Sikandar Raza was understandably delighted with the big win, but reminded his side that the series is still alive.
“Feel really happy about the win. But the job is not done, the series is not over. World champions play like world champions so we need to be ready for the next game,” said Raza.
However, Raza was not happy with the way Zimbabwe batted and hoped for improvement in that department in the coming matches.
“This isn’t a wicket where you get bowled out for 115. Credit to the bowlers of both sides. It’s clearly an indication that we need to up our skills. We had our plans, we stuck to it and we backed our guys,” he said.
The 38-year-old said his side’s catching and fielding were excellent and kept the pressure on India.
“Our catching and ground fielding was amazing but we did make some errors. It shows that there’s room for improvement. We knew the fans would lift us up and give us energy, credit to them, it helped us,” he said.
