India vs Zimbabwe: I am on field and happy, says captain KL Rahul after 10-wicket win over hosts – Firstcricket News, Firstpost

India’s short Zimbabwe tour was off to an auspicious start as the national team defeated the hosts by 10 wickets in Harare on Thursday. The match also saw the return of KL Rahul after bouts with injury and COVID and the stand-in captain was happy to be back on the field.

“As good as it can be, I am on the field and I am happy,” said KL Rahul at the post-match presentation ceremony. “We do play a lot of cricket, injuries are going to be a part of it. Being away from the game is hard. Rehab and everything everyday gets boring. We’d rather be playing 365 days than be with the physio.”

Thursday’s match saw India bundle out Zimbabwe for 189 with Deepak Chahar (3/27), Axar Patel (3/24) and Prasidh Krishna (3/50) doing the trick with the ball. Chasing the dismal total, Shubman Gill (82* runs off 72 balls) and Shikhar Dhawan (81* off 113) ensured the visitors had no trouble on the day to the win.

Speaking of the result, Rahul praised his bowlers for taking good advantage of the conditions as Chahar and Kuldeep Yadav also returned to the team after an injury lay-off.

“Picking up wickets is crucial. There was a swing and seam movement as well. But it was good see them put the ball in right areas and be disciplined. For a few of us, it is great to be back in the Indian dressing room,” he said.

Zimbabwe captain Regis Chakabva praised Indian bowlers for making things complicated for his side but was glad to see some fightback from his lower-order batters. The captain top scored with a 35-run innings while Brad Evans (33 not out) and Richard Ngarava (34) give Zimbabwe’s total some semblance of respect.

“The Indian bowlers bowled really well and put pressure on us,” said Chakabva. “I thought we started well but lost our way from the 18-over mark. It was good to see Richie [Ngarava] and Brad [Evans] give a good partnership at the back end. They were quite good and we needed one or two big partnerships. We didn’t have that enough. Our bowlers tried to come hard at them but Shikhar and Gill batted really well and took us out of the game.”

Read all the Latest News, Trending News, Cricket News, Bollywood News, India News and Entertainment News here. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.