India had a phenomenal outing in Zimbabwe. The team has for the first time completed a whitewash in an overseas ODI series. While winning against Zimbabwe hardly comes as a surprise, the scale of the victory is sure not to be forgotten soon. There are five reasons behind India’s mammoth win at Zimbabwe:
Young but inspired blood in Team India: Team India had left behind most of the senior players back home, replacing them with rookies. The idea behind this is twofold — give the seniors players a much deserved rest and give the youngsters an opportunity to prove their mettle. That is exactly what the youngsters did — prove beyond doubt their capabilities and what they bring to the team if they are selected. The selectors are spoilt for choice and they can perhaps create three championship-winning teams with the players available. This means the youngsters need to prove not just that they are good, but also that they are perhaps better than the players they have replaced.
Collapse of Zimbabwe top-order: Zimbabwe is not the formidable team it once used to be. Despite their best efforts, against a lethal Indian bowling line-up, Zimbabwe’s top-order batsmen simply failed to put up runs on the board. While most will congratulate the couple of Zimbabwean batsmen for having managed to score off Indian bowling attack, the consistent low scores by the rest were one of the major reasons why Zimbabwe failed to win even a single match. In fact, throughout the series, it always looked the Zimbabweans never stood a chance against the fearsome 'men in blue'.
Zimbabwe’s lack of firepower: Just like the Zimbabwean batsmen failed to put up a competitive score, the bowlers failed to restrict the Indian batting line-up. This meant that India remained from the first ball till the last relaxed and comfortable, playing at their own pace. None of the bowlers made the Indian batsmen commit mistakes. The Indian batsmen took risks at will and utilised every opportunity.
Zimbabwe’s lack of firepower meant that the Indian side was never at risk of losing a match. Had India lost a match, it would have been from their complacency and not from Zimbabwe’s skill. In four of the five ODIs, the bowlers were required to restrict the Indian batting as much as possible while India chased a rather low score almost regularly. Zimbabwe’s lack of firepower was particularly glaring in the final three ODIs which India won by lot of wickets to spare. Not only were the bowlers unable to claim wickets, they gave runs rather freely. In the last three ODIs, India won with plenty of overs to spare.
Virat Kohli’s captaincy: Mahendra Singh Dhoni is a difficult captain to replace. His accolades put most captains to shame. Under his captaincy, India has won both the T20 as well as the ODI World Cup and the Champions Trophy. Given his recent injury, Dhoni has been rested, handing over the captaincy to a rather inexperienced Virat Kohli. Kohli’s first two matches as captain failed miserably with Sri Lanka and West Indies obliterating the weakened Indian side. Having learnt from the experience, Kohli proved to be a far more able captain than he let everyone else believe. Under his captaincy, India has for the first time completed a whitewash in an overseas tour. Though he may not have fared so well against a stronger team, a weak Zimbabwe side was well under his abilities and he led the young Indian side to five back-to-back ODI wins.
Momentum on India's side: Team India came to Zimbabwe with a lot of momentum. Having won the Champions Trophy and the tri-series in West Indies, Zimbabwe faced a rather confident Indian side, even though a good share of the team that went to the Caribbean was back in India, watching the matches from the comfort of their living room. More than often, a team’s status when facing a side like Zimbabwe might breeds over-confidence. Luckily, this time, for India, that was not the case. Their confidence meant, they took the necessary risks and it paid off. For the first time ever, India can boast of a whitewash in an overseas tour—even if it is against a rather weak side like Zimbabwe.