'Again, not up to the standard I think': Raza blames Harare pitch after Zimbabwe's defeat to India

Harare: Zimbabwe captain Sikandar Raza questioned the quality of the pitch after his side's seven-wicket loss to India in the opening T20I of the three-match series at the Harare Sports Club, saying prolonged moisture made batting particularly difficult with the new ball.

Speaking at the post-match presentation, Raza felt the surface remained challenging for much longer than anticipated, with the new ball continuing to move and making stroke play difficult.

"Again, not up to the standard I think. In the morning, I think that moisture certainly played a part, but I didn't think it was going to play a part for that long. I thought it remained tough with the new ball," Raza said.

"Unfortunately, we didn't hit many boundaries up front as well, so the ball stayed new, and because of that, I felt the movement off the deck made batting even tougher," he added.

Drawing comparisons with Zimbabwe's recent ODI series against Bangladesh, Raza noted that while moisture had also been a factor then, India's innings suggested the wicket had improved significantly by the second half of the match.

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"I thought during the Bangladesh ODI series, there was a lot of moisture, and it remained there for a long time. Whereas today, I thought the moisture was there for the first eight to ten or even 12 overs, and apart from that, when India came out to bat, the wicket was very true," he said.

The Zimbabwe skipper expressed hope that the surface for the second T20I would be fairer and reduce the impact of the toss on the outcome of the contest.

"So, hopefully we get a better wicket for the next game so that even when we lose the toss, it doesn't play too big a part," he added.

Zimbabwe found themselves in early trouble at 32/4 before Wesley Madhevere and Tadiwanashe Marumani steadied the innings with a crucial partnership, helping the hosts post 125/7.

Raza singled out the pair for praise, describing their stand as one of the few positives from the match and hoping other batters would contribute more in the upcoming fixtures.

"Yes, definitely. That's one of the positives. Marumani and Madhevere - it's a new role as well. I thought they batted really well to give us some sort of a respectable total. We'll take that as a positive, and hopefully the other guys can chip in as well so that we can put up a competitive total if we bat first," he said.

India chased down the 126-run target with ease in just 13.2 overs. Young opener Vaibhav Sooryavanshi starred with a record-breaking 18-ball half-century as the visitors secured a seven-wicket victory to take a 1-0 lead in the three-match series. (ANI)