Amit Mishra's 6-wicket haul led India to a comprehensive victory over beleaguered Zimbabwe, at Bulawayo. India secured a 5-0 whitewash of the series without much sweat. Earlier, Mishra's skilful manoeuvres pummelled Zimbabwe to a paltry total of 163. Then, India knocked off the target in just 34 overs, with Jadeja, Pujara and Rahane scoring around 50 runs each. Amit Mishra became the Man of the Series as he bagged a total of 18 wickets, beating the record of the highest number of wickets by a spinner in a bilateral series. Along with this, India recorded their first clean sweep away from home in a five-match series.
Match Stats:
Zimbabwe 163 (Masakadza 32, S Williams 51, Mishra 6-48)
India 167 (Rahane 50, Jadeja 48, Jarvis 2-18)
This five-match series saw a relatively young Indian side taking on and defeating the underperforming Zimbabweans. We saw Virat Kohli's competence as a captain, as well as good performances from Jaydev Unadkat, Shikhar Dhawan, as well as Mishra's remarkable bowling, which stages a good claim for his Test recall. However, a reason for disappointment was that J&K spinner Parvez Rasool did not get his first international outing, and warmed the benches instead. It could have been a beacon of opportunity for other J&K players who are marginalized from Indian cricket. J&K CM Omar Abdullah expressed his discontent saying "Did you really have to take him all the way to Zimbabwe to demoralize him?".
Wow!! Indiaaaa Indiaaaa!
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