India will take on Zimbabwe in the third and final game of the three-match ODI series on Monday at the Harare Sports Club in Harare.
Though many of India’s big players, including current skipper Rohit Sharma and former captain Virat Kohli, were not a part of this series, the men in blue have had not any problems whatsoever in asserting their superiority.
They secured a comfortable 10-wicket win in the first match, while in the second match, KL Rahul & Co. won by five wickets. Hence, this match will effectively be a dead rubber contest and India could experiment with their team, giving youngsters a chance to prove their mettle.
Current Form
The gap between these two teams in terms of quality and experience was very visible in the first ODI. Bowling first, Rahul’s bowlers did an impressive job to bowl out Zimbabwe for only 189 runs.
Then, it was the turn of the batters, or to be more specific, the openers to show their class. Shikhar Dhawan and Shubman Gill remained unbeaten as India won that match by 10 wickets.
In the second match, however, Regis Chakabva’s men did show somewhat of a fight. The batters were poor once again, as the hosts were bowled out for only 161 runs, but the chase was not as easy as India would have expected.
Skipper Rahul scored only one run, but Dhawan and Gill steadied India’s innings. Ishan Kishan could not do much either, but a knock of unbeaten 43 runs from 39 deliveries by Sanju Samson saw India registering a five-wicket win.
Head to Head Record
As many would expect, the head-to-head records between these two sides are heavily skewed in favour of the Indians. The two sides have crossed paths 65 times in ODI cricket, of which India has won 53 games.
Zimbabwe has won only 10 matches, while a couple of games did not produce a result. Another notable fact is Zimbabwe’s last win against India in ODIs came 12 years ago. Since that match, India has beaten Zimbabwe in 15 consecutive ODIs.
Key Players
Ryan Burl: It is difficult to pick a top performer from the Zimbabwean team, as hardly anyone has been able to go toe-to-toe against the Indians in this series. Perhaps, Ryan Burl is the best pick from an underperforming lot.
He is the only Zimbabwean batter to reach the 50-run mark and has maintained a strike rate of 76.92. Burl scored 11 runs in the first match, but the second ODI saw him scoring unbeaten 39 runs from 47 deliveries.
Shubman Gill: Shubman Gill was predominantly considered a Test player until very recently, but the youngster is now showing why he is a supremely versatile batter and has the capability to bat in all three formats with equal effectiveness.
Shubman Gill has shown his versatility
He is currently India’s leading run-scorer in this series, having smashed 115 runs at a strike rate of 108.49. Gill smashed an unbeaten 72-ball 82 in the first match, while in the last game, he scored 33 runs from 34 deliveries.
Predicted Playing XIs
Zimbabwe: Innocent Kaia, Takudzwanashe Kaitano, Wesley Madhevere, Sean Williams, Sikandar Raza, Regis Chakabva (c & wk), Ryan Burl, Luke Jongwe, Brad Evans, Victor Nyauchi, Tanaka Chivanga.
India: Shikhar Dhawan/Rahul Tripathi, Shubman Gill, Ishan Kishan, KL Rahul (c), Deepak Hooda, Sanju Samson (wk), Axar Patel, Shardul Thakur, Kuldeep Yadav, Avesh Khan, Deepak Chahar.
Prediction
India might bench some of their key players like Shikhar and Mohammed Siraj in the last match, but the difference in quality between the two teams is there for everyone to see. Hence, we have predicted the Indians to register another comfortable victory and subsequently complete the clean sweep.