Zimbabwe turn to T20Is to end India's dominance on tour

The short gap between the One-Day International (ODI) and Twenty20 International (T20I) series brings an opportunity for Zimbabwe to get back on their feet, dust themselves clean and seek a fresh beginning. The atmosphere must have been morose but Graeme Cremer, the Zimbabwe captain, was quick to suggest that there was indeed no time for introspection. If the three fixtures so far are anything to go by, it's the lack of patience and application that has ailed Zimbabwe. On two out of three occasions, they had a good enough foundation to challenge their superior opposition, but their failure to do so reflected the fact that perseverance isn't their strongest suit. The shorter format, thus, comes as one where they can try and play with renewed confidence levels. That said, they will go up against a bunch of youngsters who may have been inexperienced in ODIs, but come into the T20I series with rich Indian Premier League experience. Yuzvendra Chahal has picked 20-plus wickets for two seasons in a row now, Jasprit Bumrah has been one of the finds of the tournament while Barinder Sran too showed his mettle across roles in a title-winning season in 2016. Among the batters too, KL Rahul has enhanced his reputation as a T20 player while Manish Pandey is one of the top-order batters that Zimbabwe need to be wary of. In absolute contrast, Zimbabwe have the unwanted distinction of being the only full member of the International Cricket Council (ICC) to not have qualified for the Super 10 of the ICC World Twenty20 in India earlier this year. Afghanistan, who've been on the rise in recent years, piped the African nation to advance. The only bit of optimism comes from the fact that they managed to beat India and level the two-match T20I series at home last July.