Mahendra Singh Dhoni is very much pleased with the way the fast bowlers had stepped up in the limited overs series against Zimbabwe. Barinder Sran finished as Man of the Series in the three-match T20 international series between India and Zimbabwe. Sran took six wickets in two matches and bagged the final wicket of the series that handed India a 2-1 series win in the T20I series.
In a post-match presentation, Dhoni admitted that India gained more in the T20I series than the ODIs which India won 3-0 without facing any challenge against the incompetent Zimbabwe side. Sran 10 wickets in 5 games vs Zimbabwe was well supported by young Jasprit Bumrah and Dhawal Kulkarni who finished with 14 and 8 wickets respectively in 5 matches.
“Fast bowling is something you need a good pool for. Games like these will help them mature, and the fact that we lost the first T20I helped us get more out of the series.” Dhoni said.
“We now have a pool of fast bowlers… we can proudly say that we have 10-12 bowlers for limited overs cricket who can slowly graduate to the Test level,” Dhoni added.
Sran bowled a nervy final over at the Harare Sports Club. Zimbabwe needed 21 in the last six balls and Sran was smashed for a six and a four by Timysen Maruma to push India into a corner, then Sran bowled a couple of widish yorker and two dot balls put the Zimbabweans under pressure. Given their lack of experience, eight runs from two balls was always going to be tough but Elton Chigumbura hit the penultimate delivery for four and changed the equation to 4 from one ball.
Barinder Sran had the last laugh as Chigumbura hit a low full-toss straight to cover. “To get 21 runs in the last over was always going to be difficult. I had the confidence to defend it. But after I got hit, I changed my plan twice and that helped.” Sran said.