Former all-rounder Dirk Viljoen represented Zimbabwe in two Tests and 53 ODIs between 1997 and 2001. Reuters
Team India will be starting a new chapter on Saturday (6 July) when they take on Zimbabwe in the first of a five-match series in Harare. It will be the Men in Blue’s first assignment since their triumph over South Africa in Barbados exactly a week ago, a victory that landed them a second world title in the shortest format and helped them end their 11-year jinx in ICC events.
The difference between the side that won the T20 World Cup and the one that will be facing Zimbabwe, however, lies in the squad composition, and the two are chalk and cheese in that regard.
Indian teams visiting Zimbabwe in recent years generally have been without a number of their senior players, wherein the focus has primarily been on building a large pool of reserves, building a team for the future or plugging gaps in the first team for that matter.
It’s no different this time around with
Shubman Gill leading a group of players
who either have managed to earn their maiden national call-up on the back of solid performances in the IPL, or find themselves on the fringes of selection.
According to former Zimbabwe all-rounder Dirk Viljoen, the absence of seniors such as Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli and Jasprit Bumrah does present an opportunity for the Sikandar Raza-led home team and the upcoming series might just be closer than what experts and fans might be expecting.
“I think that (for) both teams — lesser India, probably a bit more Zimbabwe — youthful exuberance is a great thing. Maybe playing your first couple of games is a little bit nerve-wracking, but there’s an element there of freedom to go and play. And I think that that would be something that’s reinforced by the Zimbabwe management,” former spin-bowling all-rounder Viljoen said in a chat with Firstpost ahead of the Zimbabwe T20Is.
“So from a management perspective, this is for some of them new territory as well. Yes, they’ve played IPL. But international cricket and international stages is a different kind of platform.
“And I think that Zimbabwe will look at that as an opportunity to say, ‘We have a young Indian side, we have no doubt is that they are full of talent and great players’. But that also brings an opportunity for Zimbabwe because there’ll be a slight lack of international experience from the Indian side. And maybe that’s a little area they can capitalise on,” Viljoen added.
The upcoming series also assumes extra significance given it will be India’s first assignment in the post-Rohit-Kohli era, in Twenty20 Internationals that is.
The two batting stalwarts had announced their retirement
from the format after guiding India to victory in the ICC’s showpiece T20 event, with senior all-rounder
Ravindra Jadeja also calling it quits
in T20Is shortly after and joining the two batting superstars in walking into the sunset.
The Zimbabwe T20Is thus marks the beginning of a transition in Indian cricket. Both Rohit and Kohli are in the twilight of their career and aren’t expected to play beyond the 2027 ODI World Cup (perhaps even earlier in 37-year-old Rohit’s case).
The forthcoming series thus, will not only build India’s T20 team for the future, it could be the first step towards nurturing the next generation of players who could also end up becoming mainstays in the Test and ODI formats as well.
In Gill’s case, it could be an opportunity to not only
regain the opener’s spot
that he had conceded to Rohit and Yashasvi Jaiswal over the past one year, it could also be an opportunity for him to present himself as a viable option for captaincy in the years to come should the BCCI choose to look beyond the likes of Hardik Pandya, Rishabh Pant and others.
Viljoen, for one, believes Gill might just headline India’s performance in the upcoming tour, and might just end up having the most impact.
“I think that where Zimbabwe have to be careful is the start that India get with the bat. And I think that Gill could be that difference. Not to mention the fact that he’s the captain. He’s mature. Zimbabwe, we need to target him. And I think that from an Indian perspective, that he could be a leader, and he will take that opportunity that if he has a good series, which I think he could, that he could definitely be the MVP for India,” Viljoen said.
He also expected spin-bowling all-rounder Sikandar Raza to lead Zimbabwe from the front, the way he expects Gill to.
“From a Zimbabwe cricket perspective, you know, you’ve got to be careful of never looking past a Sikandar Raza. He will rise to the occasion in these kind of events. The bigger the game, the more that he wants to perform. And that’s his kryptonite. He will rise to that occasion. So you write him off at his peril. I’m excited about Richie (Richard) Ngarava and Blessing Muzarabani in what they will offer in the series on home conditions. But maybe one of the youngsters, Johno (Johnathan) Campbell, who did really well in Bangladesh and backs himself to play the shots that he knows, maybe he could be an option as well.
“So quite a hard one, but I think maybe Shubman Gill and Sikandar Raza. Ironically the two captains of both teams,” Viljoen added.
‘India have been great friends of Zimbabwe cricket’
Viljoen was part of Zimbabwean cricket’s golden generation that comprised legends such as Andy Flower and the late Heath Streak, representing them in two Tests and 53 ODIs. Six of those appearances — five ODIs and one Test — were against the Sourav Ganguly-led Indian team between 2000 and 2001.
India have been fairly regular in visiting Zimbabwe, having toured the southern African nation five times over the last 14 years, and their visits not only help the Zimbabwean cricketers gain valuable experience against top-quality opposition, it also helps fill up the coffers of Zimbabwe Cricket, the board that has a history of financial struggle and has even been suspended by the ICC due to “government interference” on multiple occasions.
“India have been great friends of Zimbabwe cricket over many years. Back in our playing day, a lot of the tours that we did were to the subcontinent. And I have fantastic fond memories of those times,” Viljoen added.
“On a couple of levels to be able to play on the subcontinent in India is an experience that you can’t explain to people. And India has just been great in reciprocating over the last sort of decade on supporting Zimbabwe cricket and I think that that’s testament to how do you grow the world game and you grow the world game in making sure that we all support each other and that support needs to come from the big teams supporting the smaller teams and vice versa, because otherwise the parity becomes too big in what we’re trying to achieve on the global stage.
“And India has always been fantastic to Zimbabwe. We have fond memories whenever they tour here, regardless of what the results might have been in the past. So we’re very grateful for the BCCI in continuously agreeing to come to Zimbabwe. Their last tour here was a great success, I think from a cricket perspective. It’s a very important tour for us and we’re very grateful for that,” Viljoen signed off.
India play five T20Is between 6 and 14 July, with all the matches being day games and starting at 4.30 pm IST.
While Gill will be leading the team, National Cricket Academy (NCA) Director and Indian batting icon VVS Laxman will be filling in as head coach for this tour with the BCCI yet to name
Rahul Dravid’s successor
for the role of the head coach.
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