Harare: Showering praise on his inexperienced bowling line-up, interim India head coach Sanjay Bangar has said the Zimbabwe tour seemed like an easy series because of their nearly flawless performance which left the hosts defenceless.
A second-string Indian side, under the captaincy of Mahendra Singh Dhoni, had maintained a complete stronghold over Zimbabwe throughout the tour, claiming a 3-0 whitewash over the hosts in the preceding one-day international series.
Indian bowlers wreaked havoc on the Zimbabwe batsmen, bowling out the hosts for paltry scores of 168, 126 and 123 in a completely one-sided ODI series at the Harare Sports Club.
According to Bangar, both seamers and spinners showed great determination and character throughout the series, pointing out that they were able to maintain the pressure even on wickets which were not conducive to them.
“It wasn’t an easy sort of a series. It seemed to be easy especially the ODI format because our bowlers bowled exceptionally well,” Bangar said in an exclusive interview to ANI. “We stressed on the need of bowling in right line and length, which are based on the conditions as how much swing and lateral movement are available over there and that is where adjustments have to come in straightway as quickly as possible. I am delighted to see bowlers raising their bar.”
Jasprit Bumrah has been the star of the bowling line-up, taking a total of 14 wickets at a staggering average of 8 and an equally impressive economy rate of 3.31.
Seamers Barinder Sran, Dhawal Kulkarni also displayed impressive efforts in the second T20, which helped the tourists storm back into the series with the former bagging a four-wicket haul.
“We narrowly missed out on winning the first match (lost by two runs). But we fought back very well,” said the 43-year-old. “I felt that we came back very strongly and that’s what really matters after you get a result which doesn’t go your way. I am really glad that boys came out and played quality cricket to equal the series.”
As the T20 series locked at 1-1, the third and the deciding match at the same venue on Wednesday promises to be an exciting affair. (ANI)