INDIA-ZIMBABWE 1st ODI: SUMMARY AND ANALYSIS

The last time India played in Zimbabwe in 2010, it was memorable for all the wrong reasons to a Indian fan. Zimbabwe did not manage a single win in their last 11 ODI matches and had given away 285 to a young Indian side in the first half of the match. But what followed was not expected by even a single Indian fan. Brendon Taylor, Hamilton Masakadza and Craig Ervine punished the Indian bowlers and chased down the target easily.  However, the most memorable match an Indian has played in Zimbabwe was the game of pool between the captain Sourav Ganguly and the coach Greg Chappell in 2005, who were making up after the captain had revealed to the world that the coach had suggested he give up his captaincy. Ever since that press conference, the actual cricket took the back seat as emotions took over to kick-start some of the most fractious years in Indian cricket. So, it has always been exciting whenever the Indians have toured there. With all these, back of their mind, a relatively young Indian squad has sent over for a five day ODI series in Zimbabwe. Today, that is, on 24^th July, we saw the first ODI being played between the two countries in Harare. Aware of the new ball threat that the Harare pitch offers, virat kohli rightly decided to field first and gave his seamers Jaydev Unadkat, R Vinay Kumar and Mohammad Shami a go at the top order of the Zimbabwe batting line up. However, Vusi Sibanda and Sikandar Raza saw out the first hour without any trouble and continued at a slow and steady pace. The introduction of Amit Mishra saw the back of Sibanda for a slow 34 and wickets kept tumbling at regular intervals. Sikander Raza  played out a responsibly played 82 for his team. But, no other batsmen could make a big score, neither could they accelerate at the proper time and Zimbabwe could only put up 228/7 on the board with the 50 overs played out. Amit Mishra was the pick of the bowlers with three wickets in his bag, while the seamers picked up one each. Indian innings did not start that perfectly, when both the openers Rohit Sharma and Shikhar Dhawan gone with only 57 on the board. But, the skipper Virat Kohli and the debutant Ambati Rayudu played the Zimbabwe bowlers with ease and set up an easy victory for the Indians. Kohli made his 15^th ODI century and never looked to be in any kind of problem against the Zimbabwe bowling. Rayudu also made his debut memorable with a well-made 63 not out. Utseya was the pick of the bowlers picking up 2 wickets and giving away runs at only 3.40 per over. India cruised to victory in the 45^th over with six wickets in hand and lead the ODI series 1-0. Virat Kohli was judged the Man of the Match. The two debutants, Jaydev Unadkat and Ambati Rayudu, had a decent start to their ODI career. Rayudu first came to national attention a decade ago, when picked as a 17-year-old to an A tour of the Caribbean and was touted as the next big thing in Indian cricket. However, a tussle with his state association and a dalliance with the unofficial Indian Cricket League combined to keep him out of the India team for years. Now that he has finally got his chance, he has also got it in the best of conditions and we hope that he makes the best of it in the next games as well. Unadkat has picked up his first ODI wicket and that should have done his confidence a world of good. Many expected to see Mohit Sharma and Pervez Rasool on the field today, but the youngsters will surely be given a go in the next game. R Vinay Kumar proved a touch expensive today and Mohit Sharma can be tried and tested in place of him for a couple of games. Overall, a convincing performance from the young Men In Blue has brought smiles to thousands of Indian fans. We wish them all the very best for the 2^nd ODI and hope that they pull off an easy win there too!!