‘A partnership would have made the game better,’ says Bishnoi after India’s loss to Zimbabwe

(MENAFN- IANS) Harare, July 7 (IANS) After losing to Zimbabwe by 13 runs in the opening match of their T20I series at the Harare Sports Club, legspinner Ravi Bishnoi feels India failed to build a solid partnership, which led to their surprise defeat.

Bishnoi took his career-best figures of 4-13 as India restricted Zimbabwe to 115/9. But the Zimbabwean bowlers, led by three-fers from Tendai Chatara and captain Sikandar Raza, bowled out a new Indian batting line-up for 102 in 19.5 overs.

“It was a good cricket match but we collapsed and lost wickets all the time. A partnership would have made the match better for us. We couldn’t do that. I think that made the difference. Zimbabwe’s bowling and fielding were really good. They didn’t allow us to build partnerships,” Bishnoi said after the match.

Bishnoi claimed the scalps of Brian Bennett, Wesley Madhevere, Luke Jongwe and Blessing Muzarabani to become the second Indian bowler to pick a four-fer against Zimbabwe in T20Is after Barinder Sran did so in 2016. “We can learn something from every match. I try to learn from every match and get better at what I do,” he said.

India are now 1-0 down in the five-match series and will have to fight back in the second match on Sunday. Asked about Shubman Gill’s leadership in the match, Bishnoi was affirmative in his observations about him. “Shubman’s captaincy is very good. His bowling changes were perfect. It is a sign of good captaincy,” he said.

Bishnoi concluded by saying that it is time for young players to take the team forward after the retirements of Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma and Ravindra Jadeja. “It is time for new players. The seniors have retired and have passed the torch to us. It is our responsibility to take the leap forward,” he concluded.

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