India registered a commanding seven-wicket victory over Zimbabwe in the first T20I of the three-match series. The win marked Shreyas Iyer‘s first success as India’s captain after enduring six consecutive defeats against Ireland (two matches) and England (four matches). For the ongoing T20I series against Zimbabwe, the BCCI appointed former India batter VVS Laxman as the interim head coach, allowing regular head coach Gautam Gambhir some time off. Despite having only a brief period with the squad, Laxman is keen to make the most of the opportunity and has introduced a new initiative aimed at fostering a positive atmosphere in the dressing room.
Following India’s victory in the series opener, Laxman introduced the ‘Best Attitude Award’ to recognize a player’s impact, commitment, and overall contribution on the field. The inaugural award was presented to batter Tilak Varma for his impressive performance.
“Attitude is equivalent to skill. What we thought as a team management, in this series over the three matches, we are going to reward is not only the fielding, not only the individual brilliance in bowling and batting. But, the attitude aspect is also something we are going to reward,” Laxman said in a video posted by BCCI on X (formerly Twitter).
To decide the winner, Laxman invited Strength and Conditioning Coach Harsha and Performance Coach Joy to share their views, and the duo selected Tilak as the recipient of the first medal.
“This one guy not only pushed himself off the field, but he also pushed himself on the field. Even when things were not to be done so intensely, he is there doing it really intense,” Harsha said.
“I always try to give the team my best. Whatever I do off the field helps me on it,” Tilak said after receiving the medal.
Talking about the match, teenaged batting sensation Vaibhav Sooryavanshi etched his name in the history books with an 18-ball half-century as India clinically chased down a modest target of 126 to register a comfortable seven-wicket victory over Zimbabwe in the first T20I at the Harare Sports Club in Harare on Thursday.
The result also meant that Shreyas Iyer finally got a win as India’s T20I captain on his eighth attempt. After India restricted Zimbabwe to a paltry 125/7, the reigning T20 World Cup winners were always going to easily hunt it down.
(With IANS Inputs)