"Something is wrong" - Shubman Gill names India's villain after shock loss vs Zimbabwe in 1st T20I

Shubman Gill-led India National Cricket Team locked horns with the Sikandar Raza-led Zimbabwe National Cricket Team in the first T20I of the five-match series on Saturday, July 6, at the Harare Sports Club.

Team India entered into the series on the back of a sensational ICC Men's T20 World Cup 2024 campaign where they remained unbeaten throughout the competition and went on to cross the final hurdle to lift the championship.

The T20 World Cup triumph ended India's 11-year ICC trophy drought and marked the end of an era for three superstars of the team. After India won the championship captain Rohit Sharma, batting stalwart Virat Kohli and all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja said goodbye to the format, making way for the youngsters to seal their spots in the line-up.

Most of the players who were involved in the ICC T20 World Cup 2024 were given rest, with only a few members being named in the squad for the Zimbabwe T20Is. Shubman Gill, who leads Gujarat Titans in the IPL, was handed the responsibility to lead the team as the original vice-captain of the team - Hardik Pandya - was also rested from the series.

We bowled pretty well, we let ourselves down in the field - Shubman Gill

India bowled first in the match and managed to restrict Zimbabwe to a below-par total of 115/9, thanks to Ravi Bishnoi's 4-wicket haul and Washington Sundar's (2), Avesh Khan's (1) and Mukesh Kumar's (1) good contributions.

When it came to run chase, Indian batters struggled and they were reduced to 43/5. Shubman Gill (31) and Washington Sundar (27) tried to put up a fight but it wasn't enough and they were bowled out for 102, losing the match by 13 runs.

Speaking after the match, India captain Shubman Gill said that they were top-notch with the ball but extremely rusty on the field. Shubman Gill said:

"We bowled pretty well, we let ourselves down in the field. We were not up to standard and everyone looked a bit rusty."

Talking about the batting failure, Shubman Gill said that they spoke about enjoying out in the middle but it didn't pan out the way they would have wanted. He also took the blame for India's loss and named himself the villain for not staying on the crease till the end.

The Indian captain admitted that the last partnership gave them hope but said that depending on tailenders to do the job is not the right thing and something is wrong. Shubman Gill said:

"We spoke about taking time and enjoying our batting but it didn't pan out that way. Halfway through we had lost 5 wickets, would've been best for us if I stayed there till the end, very disappointed with the way I got out and the rest of the match panned out. There was a bit of hope for us but when you're chasing 115 and your no.10 batter is out there, you know something is wrong."

The second T20I between the India National Cricket Team and Zimbabwe National Cricket Team will be played tomorrow - Sunday, July 7 - at the Harare Sports Club.