India vs Zimbabwe in ODIs: 6 interesting statistics and records

India will hope to start with a win against Zimbabwe in their first ODI at Harare

MS Dhoni led India will meet Zimbabwe on Saturday in Harare to kickstart the three-match ODI series between the two teams. While the last two series between the two teams were one sided, this series can be different given that India has rested all its major players to give young players a chance to find their feet in ODIs.

In the past, matches between the two countries have produced some amazing performances. Sachin Tendulkar, as so often, leads the run charts in encounters between the two teams with 1377 runs at an average of 49, while Ajit Agarkar heads the bowling charts with 47 wickets in 26 Indo-Zimbabwe encounters.

Here are some interesting facts and statistics from India-Zimbabwe meetings in ODIs.

1. The ground on which Kapil Dev scored 175 hasn’t seen international cricket after that match

While most of the cricket fans would know that there exist no moving images of Kapil Dev’s 175 against Zimbabwe due to a strike by BBC on that day, not many know that the scenic ground on which the spectacular knock was played has only hosted one ODI to date and it was this World Cup tie between the two teams.

Yes, the cricket ground named after Marquess of Abergavenny (family name of Nevill) which was witness to one of the most enthralling displays of batting has never seen any international cricket action after that match in 1983.

The Nevill Ground is one of the smallest cricket grounds in terms of capacity as it can hold not more than 4,000 people at a time. The English county Kent still plays its cricket on this ground and piled a massive 688 in their county fixture against Essex last season.

However, chances of international cricket returning to the ground look bleak, specially in times when the crowds are expanding massively.