Zimbabwe batter Tino Mawoyo said that he was disappointed that the hosts were deprived of the opportunity to play against a full-strength Indian team in the ongoing three-match ODI series.
India is without the likes of Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma, Rishabh Pant, and Jasprit Bumrah (injured) on the Zimbabwe tour, as they were rested before the Asia Cup 2022, starting on August 27.
However, Mawoyo feels India is still a strong team and Zimbabwe is looking forward to putting up a good show in the ODI series.
Mawoyo told Sportskeeda in an interview facilitated by Sony Sports Network: “India's got some massive names and those are the questions that are asked every time India comes. Is so-and-so coming? It's disappointing that you can't get the full-strength India side here, for the fans in particular.”
He added, “It's not often that you get the opportunity to see some of the world's greatest players, people you have just watched in the IPL two months ago. However, India uses this opportunity themselves to blood some of the youngsters that we have seen perform in the IPL and that is also a great opportunity for those youngsters. I'm sure Zimbabwe will be looking forward to playing against them and putting in some good performances.”
Speaking about Zimbabwe’s strengths and weaknesses, Mawoyo noted: “I'll start off with the batting department, even though we chased 300 against Bangladesh and 290 in another, it was on the back of those two big partnerships. Zimbabwe still struggles at the top of the order, losing early wickets.”
He signed off by saying, “That is something that they definitely need to address, and that will make the job easier for the batters who will come later on in the innings. It's almost unheard of that you'll get somebody playing in two ODIs, getting two hundreds, and getting partnerships of 180 and 200.”
