Zimbabwe Captain: Sikandar Raza: blamed the pitch after his team’s seven-wicket loss to India in the opening T20I of the three-match series at the Harare Sports Club. Raza said the surface had too much moisture earlier, which made it difficult to hit the new ball, while the conditions became easier India comfortably chased down 126 in 13.2 overs, boosted by Vaibhav Sooryavanshi’s record 18-ball half-century to take a 1-0 lead in the series.Raza felt the pitch favored the second-seeded team and said Zimbabwe struggled as the ball kept moving longer than expected.“Again, not fundamentally, I think. In the morning, I think the humidity definitely played a part, but I don’t think it played a part for a long time. I thought it remained tough with the new ball,” said Raza after the game.“Unfortunately, we didn’t hit many boundaries in front either, so the ball stayed fresh, and because of that, I felt the movement off the deck made the batting stronger,” he added.Comparing it to the recent Bangladesh ODI series, Raza said the wicket has become a better bat during the Indian innings.“I thought during the Bangladesh ODI series, there was a lot of moisture, and it stayed there for a long time. Whereas today, I think the moisture was in the first eight to ten or even 12 overs, and apart from that, when India came out to bat, the wicket was very real,” he said.
Be positive despite the loss
Zimbabwe recovered from 32/4 to post 125/7, thanks to Wessly Madhevere and Tadiwanashe Marumani. Raza praised the pair for helping the team achieve a respectable total and hoped that the rest of the batting unit would contribute more in the upcoming matches.“So, hopefully, we get a better wicket for the next game so that even if we lose the toss, it won’t be a big part,” he added.“Yeah, definitely. That’s one of the positives. Marumani and Madhevere, it’s a new role as well. I thought they batted really well to give us some kind of a respectable total. We’ll take that as a positive, and hopefully the other guys can chip in as well so we can put up a competitive total when we bat first,” he said.