Wounded India eye fightback against revived Zimbabwe

HARARE: Handed a rude shock in the opening game, the Indian youngsters will have to raise their game in the second Twenty20 International to stay afloat in the three-match

HARARE: Handed a rude shock in the opening game, the Indian youngsters will have to raise their game in the second Twenty20 International to stay afloat in the three-match series against minnows Zimbabwe, on Monday. It was the first time that the young team was tested on the tour and it faltered on key moments to suffer an unexpected loss.

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Captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni failed to get his team over the line in the last over but equally culpable were the batsmen who got out at key moments after getting starts.

Manish Pandey made a fluent 48 but like debutant Mandeep Singh, he would have loved to carry on and take the side through.

With Dhoni at the other end and India needing eight off the final over, Axar Patel got out to a loose shot to make life tougher the visitors.

The second string squad was picked to test the team’s bench strength and the youngsters had the ideal platform to perform in the back of a resounding series win in the preceding three ODIs. However, they wilted under pressure when challenged for the first time in the series.

While the batsmen did not show composure required at the highest level, the bowlers, who were given opportunity for the first time on the tour, disappointed.

Credit should go to Zimbabwe for their performance after a humiliating loss in ODIs but they were allowed by the erring Indian bowlers to post 170.