Harare 20th August : Although K.L.Rahul’s promotion to open the batting wasn’t delivering the desired results The stand-in captain was pleased with the possibility of some of his batters being able to spend time in the crease.In the chase of 162, India were 97-4 before Sanju Samson hit three fours and four sixes to remain unbeaten with 43 off 39 balls and also played 56 runs with Deepak Hooda (25 comprising three fours) to end the game in India’s favor with remaining 146 balls.
“Not at all, we bat deep.It’s good for some of the players to have the chance to spend some time in the middle.I’m in need of more time in the middle, and obviously playing in this series was crucial for me to get some runs and gain confidence However, I didn’t get it out today.We’ll see in the next match,” said Rahul in the post-match ceremony to present awards.
Rahul found it enjoyable to be a victim of Zimbabwe’s bowling attack who were unable break up the opening duo of Shikhar Dhawan and Shubman Gill in defense of the score of 189 in the first ODI on Thursday.
“They are blessed with top bowlers, I watched this in the earlier series against Bangladesh as well as on the TV.The bowlers were very hard and tall, they’re big and strong.This was a great challenge for us batters however, we bat deep, so it wasn’t a problem.”
Rahul expressed his appreciation to the fans who turned out in their support of the Indian team.”We are playing to play good cricket and win every opportunity is a great honor and we’d like to be out there next time, and have fun and put on an excellent performance on the weekend.Everywhere we go around the globe, we enjoy great assistance from Indian fans.We are very grateful for their assistance.”
Samson who was awarded the Player of the Award due to his three catch as well as an unbeaten score of 43, was elated for his contribution in India with gloves and bat to take an unbeatable advantage in the series of three matches.
“How much time you’ll spend in the middle, you feel good.It’s even more special is doing this for your country.I had three catches, but I missed a stumping as well As keepers we’re used to the things we did not perform well.
I enjoyed keeping, and playing a role in the victory.In this game, the fast bowlers picked the length faster and I thoroughly loved keeping.”
Zimbabwe captain Regis Chakabva liked his bowlers and their performance but was disappointed with the absence of runs.Similar to the first ODI of Thursday, Zimbabwe had a top-order breakdown and despite some re-building efforts by Sean Williams (42) and Ryan Burl (39) however, the hosts could not prevent themselves from being snubbed to 161, which was their second sub-200 score in several matches.
“We were able to put up a great fighting in the field.We’ve struggled to find early wickets in the past few games , and we were able to do that again today.We were unable to score a lot of runs.Our execution was lacking a slightly in the end but we’re hoping to score more runs.The bowlers rushed out and they attempted to get their lengths.”
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