IND vs ZIM: The Body And The Mind Was Not Working In Tandem: Deepak Chahar
On his sensational comeback after six months, Deepak Chahar’s probing new-ball spell helped India bowl out Zimbabwe for 189 in the opening ODI in Harare. Chahar started Zimbabwe’s decline to 66 for 5 and then 110 for 8 with an opening burst of 7-0-27-3 in which he sent back the hosts’ top order.
Brad Evans and Richard Ngarava’s counterattacking stand of 70 runs off 65 balls at the ninth wicket, though, helped the hosts to a relatively decent total. Chahar got off to a tentative start and needed a few overs to find his groove. Early extras were given away by Indian bowlers, but just five of the 18 runs were scored by the batsmen in the opening four overs.
When Regis Chakabva and Luke Jongwe were dismissed by Axar Patel in his subsequent overs, it appeared like Zimbabwe would be skittled for less than 150. However, as the circumstances improved for batting, Ngarava and Evans fought back with a barrage of boundaries off both pace and spin.
Axar and Prasidh both finished with three wickets each, with Axar taking the final one for his 50th ODI wicket.
I Was A Little Nervous Making A Comeback After 6 Months: Deepak Chahar
The Indian openers put together a solid stand and helped the team chase the target quite easily in the end. Both Shubman Gill and Shikhar Dhawan found regular boundaries.
Deepak Chahar was declared player of the match for his performance, “The landing area was a little hard and my nails were not going in and were slippy. When you are playing an international game after six and a half months, you are always nervous.
Before coming here I played four-five practice games. But playing for the country, you wanted to do well and the mind and the body were not working together. That ball I wanted to bowl a bouncer and the spikes didn’t go through and I slipped”, said Chahar at the post-match presentation.
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India National Cricket Team
