‘We Let Ourselves Down, Not Up to the Standards’: Shubman Gill Regrets Not Finishing the Chase vs Zimbabwe

An inexperienced Zimbabwe pulled off an upset on Saturday, defeating a young Team India by 13 runs in the first game of the 5-match T20I series in Harare. The visitors were expected to trot past an unfancied Zimbabwe and the script followed that line when the hosts were restricted to 115 for nine. But Zimbabwe bounced back with a spirited bowling attack, reducing India to 28 for four in the Powerplay and then eventually bowling them out for 102 in 19.5 overs.

India skipper Shubman Gill on Saturday said he should have carried the bat through the first T20I against Zimbabwe here, while terming his side’s batting effort as “disappointing.”

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“We bowled pretty well, we let ourselves down in the field. We weren’t up to standard and everyone looked a bit rusty,” Gill said at the post-match presentation.

“We talked about taking time and enjoying our batting but it didn’t pan out that way. Halfway through we had lost 5 wickets, would’ve been best for us if I stayed there till the end, very disappointed with the way I got out and the rest of the match panned out.

“There was a bit of hope for us but when you’re chasing 115 and your No.10 batter is out there, you know something is wrong,” he added.

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Gill kept India in the chase with a sensible knock of 31 runs but Zimbabwe captain Sikandar Raza accounted for his counterpart with a delivery that skidded past his bat to rattle the stumps. Avesh Khan (16) and Washington Sundar (27) added 23 runs for the eighth wicket to take India to 84 but a full-blooded smash off a Masakadza full-toss was accepted by Raza at long-off.

At 84 to eight and then at 86 to nine, the fight was well and truly over. India needed 16 runs off the last over and despite Washington being there, they could only manage just two runs as Zimbabwe celebrated a famous win with all fervour.