Both India and Zimbabwe will have equal chance in T20I series: Sikandar Raza

Harare: Zimbabwe T20 captain Sikandar Raza has dismissed any talk of India being overwhelming favourites, insisting the upcoming three-match T20I series will be a closely-fought contest with both teams having an equal chance of emerging victorious.

The series gets underway on Thursday, with Zimbabwe sensing an opportunity against an Indian side looking to bounce back from a difficult white-ball tour of Ireland and England.

India endured a 0-2 T20I series defeat to Ireland in Belfast before going down 0-4 in the five-match T20I series against England under new captain Shreyas Iyer. The visitors also lost the ODI series 1-2 under Shubman Gill.


"Both countries will have an equal chance in this series. But one thing I am very sure about is that because Zimbabwe has been playing very consistent and very entertaining cricket, I can say this for sure that this series will be very entertaining," Raza told Star Sports.

Zimbabwe's memorable 23-run upset of Australia at the ICC T20 World Cup in Colombo in February sent shockwaves through the tournament, with the defeat ultimately contributing to Australia's stunning group-stage elimination.

They have also secured victories against Sri Lanka and Bangladesh this year.

"As far as winning or losing is concerned, both countries have an equal chance to win the series," said Raza, the veteran all-rounder who has played 136 T20Is.

He added that the Indian cricket was going though a transition phase, which will make the series interesting.

"Yes, India is going through a transition and to some extent you'll see Zimbabwe is also gonna have a little bit of transition happening as well. I don't see it as a one-sided series," he said.

The second and third T20I will be played at the same venue on July 25 and 26.