Former Indian selector, Saba Karim was not happy with Indian skipper KL Rahul’s decision to bowl first against Zimbabwe in the second ODI at the Harare Sports Club, Harare on Saturday. Rahul had also decided to bowl first in the opening game and Zimbabwe was skittled out for only 189 runs.
The Indian bowlers were able to get help from the surface and got the ball to swing in the PowerPlay overs. India was able to chase down the total in 30.5 overs as Shubman Gill and Shikhar Dhawan added 192 runs for the opening alliance.
Rahul once again decided to bowl first in the second ODI and Karim feels the team should have tried to get out of their comfort zones. In fact, it should be noted that Indian batters could have got more game time under their belt if Rahul had decided to bat first in the second ODI.
Zimbabwe could only manage 161 runs in 38.1 overs in the second ODI but India did sweat a bit to chase down the score as they lost five wickets. Sanju Samson scored an unbeaten knock of 43 runs and took the team over the line.
Speaking to Sony Sports Network, Karim said: “I was expecting India to bat first after winning the toss, but that didn’t happen. They again took the logical kind of route and this is so easy for them because if you have come to Zimbabwe. There have to be some takeaways for you as a side. The best way to do that would have been to put yourself in a difficult situation and try and come out of it.”
He added: “The reason why we were out of the T20 World Cup was because of our conservative approach while batting first and it may happen leading up to the World Cup. So it’s always good to prepare and try and get yourself out of comfort zones.”
Meanwhile, Indian bowlers were once again right on the money but the visitors were not clinical with the bat. Shardul Thakur, who replaced Deepak Chahar in the playing XI, scalped three wickets and conceded 38 runs in the seven overs he bowled.
India will look to continue their domination in the third ODI against Zimbabwe, which will be played at the same venue on Monday.
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