Deepak Chahar Shines On Return As India Thump Zimbabwe By 10 Wickets

Donning the blue jersey for the first time in six months after a long injury lay-off, Chahar hit the straps right away with figures of 3/27

Pacer Deepak Chahar made an impressive comeback to international cricket with an incisive spell and openers maintained their consistency as India outclassed Zimbabwe by 10 wickets in the opening One Day International, here on Thursday. Donning the blue jersey for the first time in six months after a long injury lay-off, Chahar hit the straps right away with figures of 3/27, which was instrumental in India restricting Zimbabwe to a sub-par 189 in just 40.3 overs. With very little scoreboard pressure, it was a walk in the park for the Indians as the in-form opening pair of Shikhar Dhawan (81 not out) and Shubman Gill (82 not out) knocked off the target in just 30.5 overs.

With skipper KL Rahul foregoing his spot at the top of the order to let the in-form pair maintain its momentum, Dhawan and Gill scored their third half-centuries in last four games. Not to forget that it was also their third century-plus stand from the start of the West Indies series. Their lowest opening partnership had yielded 48 runs in second ODI in Caribbean.

On a track that had something for the bowlers, the Indian openers did start in a sedate fashion but with very little on the board, it did not take them much time to accelerate.

Dhawan played his signature square cuts off seamers and lofted shots off the slow bowlers during his 113-ball knock while Gill played within himself for the first 30 deliveries before starting to chance his arms and surpassed his senior partner in terms of strike-rate, facing only 72 balls.

He played some eye-catching strokes on either side of the wicket, including a huge six over deep mid-wicket off Wessly Madhevere.