5 takeaways from India's tour of Zimbabwe 2016
Even as a second-string side made way for Zimbabwe, it was always expected that they would win their matches without any hassle. This sense was further vindicated by the dominating performance of the Young team in the 3-match One Day International series as they crushed the hosts by 9, 8 and 10 wickets respectively.
The bowlers exploited the favourable conditions on offer at the Harare Sports Club and the hosts never looked settled against the swing and seam. Their techniques were exposed thoroughly in all the 3 matches.
Going into the Twenty20 series, much of the same was expected but then Zimbabwe decided to play and miraculously won the first match in a final ball humdinger. This then set up the 3-match series beautifully and suddenly India had to make the running. India did so and much more as they thrashed the hosts by 10 wickets in the second match and then held their nerve to win the final match by 3 runs in the final match.
The performances in the Twenty20s were far from convincing, but the young turks have created significant impact and have made use of the chances handed over to them.
We take a look at 5 takeaways from this tour.
#1 KL Rahul can be an impact in limited overs too
One of the biggest positive emerging from this tour is the form and impact of KL Rahul. The 24-year-old has emerged as a viable option for limited overs format as well. He sprung to the attention of the Indian selectors with his sparkling form in the Indian Premier League. This helped him earn a National call for the tour to Zimbabwe. He did not disappoint there either and became the first Indian batsman to score a century on his ODI debut.
He carried his form right through the ODI series and then into the Twenty20s too, and save a first-ball duck in the first T20, Rahul has certainly put his name firmly forward in white ball cricket.
"Obviously, with good performances in the last couple of months the confidence is there and I always knew I had the game and I had the skill sets to be successful in all the three formats," Rahul said, visibly exuberant after his innings.