Former Indian opener Sadagoppan Ramesh believes Team India’s opening T20I win over Zimbabwe warranted celebrations only because of the side’s recent results. The Men in Blue entered the series against a lowly Zimbabwean side on the back of consecutive T20I series losses to Ireland and England.
Furthermore, India remained winless in both series, losing by 0-2 and 0-4 margins, respectively. The series losses also coincided with newly-appointed Shreyas Iyer’s first two assignments as Indian skipper, leaving him desperate for a maiden win.
Talking about the massive victory over Zimbabwe in the T20I series opener, Ramesh said on his Instagram handle:
“Many are saying India shouldn’t be so excited for just a win over Zimbabwe. Yet, when you are starving for a victory for so long in T20Is, even leftover food will taste like a wedding meal. Shreyas Iyer will be relieved, considering India’s fall under his captaincy. He would have reached a point where a win over anyone would have been enough for him.”
India dominated from the word go in the opening T20I against Zimbabwe, restricting the hosts to a subpar 125/7 in 20 overs. In response, the visitors hardly broke a sweat, chasing down the target in a mere 13.2 overs with seven wickets in hand.
“India perform well every time he’s the head coach” – S Ramesh hails VVS Laxman
Sadagoppan Ramesh praised former batter VVS Laxman for consistently delivering results as Team India’s interim head coach, following the win in the series opener against Zimbabwe. Laxman has occasionally served as the Indian head coach in the absence of current head coach Gautam Gambhir and former head coach Rahul Dravid during bilateral series.
Laxman is operating as India’s head coach in the ongoing Zimbabwean T20I series.
“VVS Laxman also deserves high praise. India perform well every time he’s the head coach. Under him, India seem to always whitewash the opponents, even at a time the other teams are constantly whitewashing India otherwise. It got to the point where India just needed a win of any kind and hence their elation after beating even Zimbabwe,” said Ramesh (via the aforementioned source).
Laxman was India’s head coach when they triumphed in the 2023 Asian Games and the away bilateral T20I series in South Africa the following year. The Men in Blue will look to seal another series win under Laxman in the second T20I against Zimbabwe at Harare on Saturday, July 25.
Edited by Venkatesh Ravichandran