India defeated Zimbabwe by 10 wickets in the opening One Day International played here on Thursday, with pacer Deepak Chahar making a stunning comeback to international cricket with an effective stint and the openers remaining steady.
Chahar, who was wearing the blue jersey for the first time in six months following a protracted injury layoff, made an immediate impact with figures of 3/27, helping India restrict Zimbabwe to a disappointing 189 in just 40.3 overs.
The in-form opening duo of Shikhar Dhawan (81 not out) and Shubman Gill (82 not out) easily reached the goal in only 30.5 overs with no scoreboard pressure on them.
Dhawan and Gill struck their third half-centuries in the last four games after captain KL Rahul gave up his position at the top of the order to let the in-form partnership to keep up their pace. Not to mention that they had been holding out for more over three centuries since the West Indies series began. In the second ODI in the Caribbean, their opening partnership’s lowest output was 48 runs.
The Indian openers did begin in a conservative manner on a track that offered something for the bowlers, but because there was not much on the board, it did not take them long to pick up speed.
