In the third T20I between India and Zimbabwe, India won the toss and decided to bat first. Captain Shreyas Iyer said that the pitch could be slow. Two changes have been made in the team. India is leading 2-0 in the series and is eyeing a clean sweep.
Harare [जिम्बाब्वे]July 26 (ANI): India won the toss and elected to bat first in the third and final T20I of the three-match series against Zimbabwe at the Harare Sports Club on Sunday.
India come into the third T20I after winning the first two T20Is and will be aiming for a 3-0 series clean-sweep over the hosts. After winning the toss, Indian captain Shreyas Iyer opted to bat first as he expected the pitch to become slower as the match progressed. He said that the team will have to adapt quickly to the conditions and aim to score a strong score. Iyer also confirmed two changes in the playing eleven, with Ashok Sharma replacing Prince Yadav and Suryansh Shedge replacing Shivam Dubey.
What did Shreyas Iyer say after winning the toss?
“We are going to bat first given that we are playing on the same wicket and are expecting it to be slower,” Iyer said at the toss. [कल इस पिच के प्रदर्शन से खुश हैं?] Certainly, we got 220 runs on the board and the way the boys played, we got a great start. Coming this morning and thinking about those performances, I feel excited and obviously I want to repeat the same performance. [भारतीय बल्लेबाजों के दृष्टिकोण पर] It will be important for us to adapt as quickly as possible. Cannot guarantee how the wicket will play. Will it be the same as yesterday or not? But the quicker we adapt, the better it will be for us, and then we will try to put a big score on the board. [टीम संरचना पर] We have made two changes. Prince is out, so Ashok Sharma has come in his place. And Shivam Dubey is out, Suryansh has come in his place.”
What did Zimbabwe captain Sikandar Raza say?
Zimbabwe captain Sikandar Raza said his team would also have liked to bat first, although not due to concerns about the pitch being slow. Supporting his teammates after their recent performances, Raza said it is now his responsibility as captain to lead from the front. He also confirmed one forced change, with Richard Ngarawa ruled out with a minor injury and Wellington Masakadza coming into the playing eleven.
Raza said,[क्या आप पहले गेंदबाजी करके खुश हैं?] Yes, we have to do that anyway. But yes, if we had won the toss, we would have also wanted to bat first. But this was not due to the slow motion of the surface. We know the scores have been pretty good throughout, but we just wanted to bat first today. [चेंज रूम के माहौल पर] All I said today is that you all are doing very well. I think with the flaws in the team, a little more runs are needed from the captain. So you all are doing very good work. Now it is up to me to perform well as a captain. Hopefully, God has given us another chance to perform well today and hopefully I and the team together can put up a good batting and bowling performance. [टीम संरचना पर] We were forced to make a change this morning. Richard Ngarwa unfortunately has a little injury so he’s out and Wellington Masakadza has come in.”
Playing 11 of both teams
India’s playing 11:
Vaibhav Suryavanshi, Abhishek Sharma, Ishan Kishan (wicketkeeper), Shreyas Iyer (captain), Tilak Verma, Rinku Singh, Suryansh Shedge, Ravi Bishnoi, Yash Thakur, Mayank Yadav, Ashok Sharma.
Zimbabwe’s playing 11:
Brian Bennett, Ben Curran, Dion Myers, Sikandar Raza (captain), Ryan Burl, Wesley Madhevere, Tadivanashe Marumani (wk), Brad Evans, Newman Nyamhuri, Wellington Masakadza, Blessing Muzarabani. (ANI)
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by Asianetnews Editorial staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)