'Not up to...': Raza slams pitch after defeat versus India
What's the story
Zimbabwe's captain Sikandar Raza has blamed the pitch for his team's seven-wicket defeat against India in the first T20I of their three-match series. The match took place at Harare Sports Club, where India chased down a target of 126 runs in just 13.2 overs. The chase was led by Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, who scored a record-breaking half-century off just 18 balls.
Pitch issues
Not up to the standard, says Raza
Raza expressed his concerns over the pitch, saying it was too moist in the beginning, making batting difficult with a new ball.
He said, "Again, not up to the standard, I think. In the morning, I think that moisture certainly played a part, but I didn't think it was going to play a part for that long."
He added that the wicket was very true when India came out to bat.
Comparison
Pitch was different from the Bangladesh ODI series, says Raza
Comparing the current pitch conditions with those of the recent Bangladesh ODI series, Raza said they were different.
"I thought during the Bangladesh ODI series, there was a lot of moisture, and it remained there for a long time."
But today, he observed that moisture was present for only about eight to 10 or even 12 overs before it became much better when India came out to bat.
Batting hopes
We need to step up as a batting unit: Raza
Despite the challenging pitch conditions, Zimbabwe managed to recover from a dismal start of 32/4 to post a total of 125/7.
This was largely due to the efforts of Wessly Madhevere and Tadiwanashe Marumani.
Raza, who made four runs and went for 0/14 in his three overs, praised their performance but also stressed on the need for his entire batting unit to step up in future matches.
He said, "So, hopefully, we get a better wicket for the next game so that even when we lose the toss, it doesn't play too big a part."