India in Zimbabwe: A brief history

Ahead of the three-match ODI series starting July 10, a look back at how Indian cricket teams have fared in Zimbabwe over the years. India have played 25 ODIs on Zimbabwean soil since 1992, winning 17 and losing eight.
1992-93 - India won 1-0: India first played an ODI in Zimbabwe on a short tour in 1992-93, which also comprised one Test match. Mohammad Azharuddin's side won the one-off ODI comfortably by 30 runs at the Harare Sports Club with Sanjay Manjrekar's run-a-ball 70 propping up the tourists to 239 after they lost their openers with one run on the board.In reply, Javagal Srinath took three wickets as India's bowlers kept Zimbabwe to 209 in 49.1 overs.
1996-97 - Zimbabwe won 1-0: Four years on, Zimbabwe were victors in a short series. The hosts won the first match by eight wickets and the second was abandoned. At Bulawayo on February 15, 1997 the home team kept India to 168 in 43.5 overs with Heath Streak taking 5 for 32, and a revised target of 136 was achieved with 73 deliveries and eight wickets in hand.
1998-99 - India won 2-1: This time the series comprised three matches. Sachin Tendulkar's 127* off 130 balls made short work of a target of 214 in the opener at Bulawayo and the series was wrapped up a day later as Sourav Ganguly struck 107* in another eight-wicket win. Inspired by Craig Wishart (102), Zimbabwe won the dead rubber at Harare by 37 runs.
2001 - India lost tri-series final to West Indies: Tendulkar's unbeaten 70 helped India get off to a good start in the Coca Cola Cup as Zimbabwe were beaten by nine wickets at Harare. Zaheer Khan then took 4 for 42 as India made it two wins in a row over Zimbabwe at Bulawayo. A hat-trick of wins was achieved as Tendulkar's 81 not out helped India beat West Indies by six wickets at Bulawayo. Tendulkar's irresistible form continued in India's fourth match as his unbeaten 122 saw India beat West Indies by six wickets in Harare. But in the final, Tendulkar's form ran out and India were beaten by 16 runs.
2003 World Cup - India beat Zimbabwe: Ganguly's team motored to a comfortable win over the hosts at Harare, with Tendulkar (81) top-scoring out of a total of 255 for 7. Ganguly then took 3 for 22.
2005 - India lost tri-series final to New Zealand: India started the Videocon Cup in August 2005 with a 51-run loss to New Zealand at Bulawayo, but inspired by Irfan Pathan's 5 for 27 they trounced Zimbabwe by 161 runs at Harare to make a resounding comeback. In the third match, Mohammad Kaif's unbeaten 102 helped India chase 279 against New Zealand with six wickets and 15 balls remaining. They then made it three wins in a row by beating Zimbabwe by four wickets at Harare, this time thanks to a century from Yuvraj Singh. In the final, India were beaten by New Zealand with Nathan Astle scoring 115 not out in a six-wicket win.
2010 - India failed to reach final of tri-series: In the summer of 2010, a second-string Indian side led by Suresh Raina contested a tri-series in Zimbabwe. In the series opener at Bulawayo, Rohit Sharma scored his maiden ODI century to drive India to 285 for 5 but the hosts won by six wickets. Two days later, however, India beat Sri Lanka by seven wickets thanks to Rohit's 101* off 100 balls. A second defeat to Zimbabwe, this time by seven wickets at Harare, left India in danger of being eliminated from the series. India were knocked out of the contest by Sri Lanka on June 5. It marked the end of a disappointing tour.
2013 - India won 5-0: Another B team was enough to sweep the hosts in Harare and Bulawayo by six wickets, 58 runs, seven wickets, none wickets and seven wickets respectively. Virat Kohli started his captaincy sting with a century to power a chase of 229 in the first ODI, then in the second it was Shikhar Dhawan who scored 116 to set up victory in the second. Amit Mishra played a leading role in the remaining three games, taking 13 wickets to finish the series with the series with 18 - equaling the record for most wickets in a bilateral series and becoming only the fourth Indian bowler (allrounders excluded) to win a Man-of-the-Series award.
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