Riyan Parag made his international debut by securing a victory for India. The Indian cricket team won the series against the hosts, Zimbabwe, after a 42-run victory in the fifth and final T20I. This sealed a 4-1 series victory for the men in blue. Sunday’s encounter at the Harare Sports Club saw some outstanding performances weaved in by various Indian players.
This was also the series in which Riyan Parag made his international debut. He also shared a special moment with his under-19 teammate, Abhishek Sharma. Both players, who played together in the 2018 U-19 Cup, opened their Indian jerseys together.
Riyan Parag Debut and Reflection
A four-wicket haul by Mukesh Kumar and a half-century by Sanju Samson were to make all the difference in the fifth T20I. While the latter scored 58 runs off 45 balls, striking one four and four sixes, Mukesh returned with an impressive bowling figure of 4/22 of real significance in India’s victory.
Riyan Parag said,
We opened our jerseys together. I went to his room, he opened it first and then I did.
He also spoke about his association with Sanju Samson. Parag said that he had a talk with the wicketkeeper-batter about having a partnership like they used to have while batting for RR together at numbers three and four, respectively. He stated:
Once we had wickets in the end, we could go big and it was a tricky wicket, glad we could do well.
He showered great praise on the leadership of Shubman Gill. He said that Gill had been a captain for under 16 days. Parag added:
He has been like a captain, even when he was not captain. In the field, he has been exceptional.
That much-anticipated debut proved not so memorable for Parag, though. He scored just 24 runs in two innings and failed to take any wickets. This came after all the promises he had shown during a strong IPL season in which he hit 573 runs in 16 matches for the Rajasthan Royals.
Zimbabwe’s Bowling and India’s Batting
The fifth T20I saw Zimbabwe win the toss and opt for bowling. They then found India reeling at 40/3 but sensibly batted through a 65-run partnership between Samson and Parag. Shivam Dube’s quick fireworks of 26 runs off 12 balls further lifted India to 167/6.
The best figures among the Zimbabwe bowlers were taken by Blessing Muzarbani with 2/19. Richard Ngarva, Sikandar Raza, and Brandon Mavuta took one wicket apiece. For India, the knocks of Samson and Dube were really important to set a competitive total.
Things started well for the Zimbabweans, but Shivam Dube was to turn things around for his team with his 2/25 and the run-out of Sikandar Raza. The latter bowled out for 129 despite the individual best efforts of Dion Myers, Tadiwanashe Marumani, and Faraz Akram.
Performing under pressure and through different match situations showed that all the performances by this team set the right note for future contests. Not only is it well-prepared, but at the same time, it also has the potential for more wins; it gives them a lot of confidence with increased expectations of the upcoming series.
Shivam Dube was adjudged the Man of the Match for his fine all-round show. Washington Sundar received the Man of the Series award for his 28 runs and eight wickets through the series. This win displayed the depth and talent of India, setting a tone that contingency will get good things in its future matches.
