Here's why Luke Jongwe did the shoe call celebration after dismissing Dhruv Jurel in IND vs ZIM 1st T20I
Medium pacer Luke Jongwe was among the wicket-takers as Zimbabwe stunned in the first T20I at the Harare Sports Club on Saturday, July 6. He picked up 1-28 in four overs, claiming the wicket of debutant Dhruv Jurel (6 off 14) as the hosts beat the Men in Blue by 13 runs.
While Tendai Chatara (3-16) and skipper Sikandar Raza (3-25) were the star performers for Zimbabwe, Jongwe also grabbed eyeballs with his shoe call celebration, akin to what South African left-arm spinner Tabraiz Shamsi is renowned for, after dismissing Jurel on Saturday in the first T20I.
It's not the first time that the 29-year-old pacer from Zimbabwe pulled off the shoe call celebration. In case fans are wonderful about the reason behind Jongwe pretending to make a phone call using his shoe after claiming a wicket, the cricketer had revealed the unique reason in 2021.
“I came up with the idea for the celebration while I was on a call with my girlfriend Brenda (Jasi). We were actually discussing a celebration I would do if I get a wicket the next day in my hotel room so I went with the shoe celebration.
"I told her each time I get a wicket I would be calling you and I hope I won’t run out of airtime,” the Zimbabwe cricketer was quoted as saying by The Standard.
Jurel had struck Jongwe for a boundary in the 10th over of India's chase in the opening T20I of the series, driving a pitched up delivery through extra cover.
The Zimbabwe pacer, though, has his revenge the very next ball. The Indian keeper-batter tried to repeat a similar stroke, but the ball was slower in pacer, and Jurel only managed to chip the ball to the fielder at short cover.
Luke Jongwe is a key member of Zimbabwe's T20I squad
Having made his T20I debut back in 2015, Jongwe has featured in 64 matches for Zimbabwe in the format and has claimed 66 wickets at an average of 21.45 and an economy rate of 8.53.
His best of 4-18 came against Pakistan in Harare in 2021. The 29-year-old is also a handy lower-order batter, scoring 476 runs in T20Is at a strike rate of 121.11, with a best of 35.
The right-arm pacer also has the experience of 43 ODIs, picking up 40 scalps at an average of 33.47, with a best of 5-6 against Afghanistan in 2016.